Green Skills

‘Maddy’s dream job delivers training, experience and security’ – NextGen Jobs

Like many school-leavers, Maddy Gallagher found herself wondering about a career after finishing Year 12.

Unsure of what she wanted to do but keen to enter the workforce, she picked up a factory job in Tullamarine. But it didn’t take her long to realise it wasn’t for her.

“It was Monday to Friday and I was just like: I can’t do this, I can’t be inside,” Maddy says. So she started applying for apprenticeships online.

She secured an apprenticeship with the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust in March, and Maddy has begun more fulfilling and satisfying work with her days spent outdoors cultivating soil, using the ride on mower and planting, among other tasks.

Maddy is happily working her way through a Certificate III in Parks and Gardens based at Altona Memorial Park, and it’s good, practical work with lots of variety. Importantly, it’s outdoors.

“I absolutely love it,” she says. “I think, if anything, I underestimated how good it was going to be. I thought I would struggle to fit in… but they took me in, and straight away, it was like I’d been there for ages. They were really welcoming.”

Maddy was supported through the  Victorian Apprenticeship Recovery Package, which places people aged 15 to 24 into fully-funded 12-month apprenticeships or traineeships with government departments, agencies, and local councils.

Backed by a $9 million investment from Jobs Victoria, the scheme placed its 300th apprentice in June.

Maddy says there is much to love about apprenticeships: You earn a qualification and invaluable on-the-job experience, and you are paid to learn.

“For people who don’t look at uni as something they want to do, I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship,” she says. “I feel like every job that you apply for now, all they want is experience. With an apprenticeship, you get the experience, but you also get the qualification.”

The Greater Melbourne Cemeteries Trust’s Horticultural Supervisor, Daniel Walkeden, said Maddy’s hard work, high standards and initiative contribute to her success as an apprentice.

“Apprenticeships are a really good leg-up to either get yourself qualified or just into a good industry and job,” Daniel says.

“I did an apprenticeship myself, and our manager at the moment actually started here as an apprentice, too. It’s really good to get kids in the gates and get their careers started.”

By Green Skills, ago

‘Inspirational female Arborist Trainee takes out three prestigious awards’ – AEN Awards

  • Trainee of the year
  • Inspiration Award: Women in Trades
  • GAN International Apprenticeship Scholarship

Katharine Starting her traineeship with Maroondah City Council in 2019.

On the March 11th 2021, WPC Group Arboriculture trainee Katharine Knapman took out three awards at the catch-up dinner for the 2020 Apprenticeship Employment Network (AEN) awards – the GAN Australia International Apprentice Scholarship, Inspiration Award: Women in Trades and Trainee of the Year.

The AEN Awards celebrate the achievements of apprentices, trainees and group training organisations in Victoria annually and this year they did not disappoint.

Starting her traineeship with Maroondah City Council in 2019, Katharine turned her passion for nature into a career. Maroondah City Council gave Katharine her start in the industry, introducing her to the trade where she gained confidence and met new people who shared her passion for the environment.

During her time with Maroondah City Council, Katharine proved her dedication and commitment to Arboriculture and her traineeship, by pursing her education outside of work, spending time with arborists who mentored her, showed her new skills and passed on their knowledge.

Now hosted with McLeod Trees, Katharine has had the opportunity to expand her knowledge further and work in different environments, undertaking new exciting tasks that will take her career to new heights.

Katharine is no stranger to winning awards. In 2019 she won the Outstanding First Year Student in Arboriculture at Holmesglen TAFE, which lead to her nomination for the 2019 Percy Moore Award with Holmesglen. Katharine also won the Timmy B Award at the VITO Climbing competition in 2019 for her attitude throughout the competition. WPC Group also nominated her for trainee of the year at the 2019 AEN awards.

When asked what winning the $12,000 scholarship means to her, Katharine says, “I will be able to further my education and career, going on to study higher certificates. Being able to continue my studies is just amazing.”

Winning Trainee of the Year, the Inspiration Award: Women in Trades and the GAN International Apprenticeship Scholarship gives Katharine the chance to promote Arboriculture, a trade that is still a new industry. Katharine is proud to show other women that they any do anything, that they can be part of a trade and pursue their dreams, “It would be really cool to see some more women to start trades and be part of the industry.”

Katharine thanked her employers; Maroondah City Council and McLeod Trees, WPC Group and her WPC Group mentor and her husband for supporting her throughout her traineeship.

Pictured left to right: Dean Luciani – AEN Chair, Tim Owens – WPC Group  Industry Consultant, Katharine Knapman – Trainee of the Year, the Inspiration Award: Women in Trades Recipient and the GAN International Apprenticeship Scholarship Recipient, Frederick J Maddern OBE – WPC Group Chairman and Gary Workman – AEN Executive Director.

By Green Skills, ago

Greenskills Cycles Towards a Sustainable Future

Greenskills placed Lauren Crooks in a traineeship at E-Bike Central in April 2015. As a female, working in the bicycle industry, Lauren is somewhat of an anomaly, a frontrunner in an incredibly male-dominated industry.

Historically male oriented, Australia’s bicycle industry is sometimes quite intimidating and alienating for women, particularly women shopping for a new set of wheels. This is despite the fact that more and more females around the world are riding, and shopping for, bikes.

Bike shops seem to lack one crucial ingredient for success: female staff. A mere 15% of all staff employed in the bicycle industry are female, the majority of whom are employed in administrative roles. If you seriously want to connect, communicate, understand and sell to women, then you need to employ women on your sales floor and in your workshops.

The most recent Australian Bike Industry report highlighted that women control 80% of all Australian household budgets. Clearly, women are the gatekeepers of spending decisions, including those spending decisions made in bicycle stores. But it’s a mistake to see women as mere influencers on the purchasing decisions of their partners and children; women are of course active, serious and valuable cycling consumers in their own right.

The cycling industry is starting to respond to this buyer profile. According to the Bike Industry report, 58% of Australian bike shops now have female specific displays and 17% have run female specific promotions within the last 12 months. Some of the larger bike companies have been investing in their women’s ranges, and the marketing of these ranges, for a few years now.

This is something that E-Bike Central in Richmond understands well. Trainee Lauren is responsible for both the repair and the sale of e-bikes. She is learning technical, hands-on skills repairing e-bikes in the workshop that make selling the environmentally friendly bicycles much easier on the shop floor. This makes Lauren not only a friendly face, but also a source of in-depth technical knowledge, for E-Bike Central’s female customers.

“Lauren has had a huge impact on our customer base. We find that women naturally gravitate towards her. And, with the technical knowledge she is gaining in the workshop, Lauren has the skills to accurately sell, and even upsell, to all of our customers. While Lauren is the first female member of our sales team, we would not hesitate in recommending employing female sales staff to any bike shop. It has done our business wonders,” said Darryn Simcox, owner of E-Bike Central.

By Green Skills, ago