Over 10,000 students and parents from Western Sydney attended the Apprenticeship Expo last Tuesday 14th September evening at Panthers Exhibition Marquee in Penrith to apply for apprenticeships and traineeships from over 80 exhibitors representing industry, businesses, group training companies and registered training organisations.
The Western Sydney Apprenticeship & Traineeship Expo was a partnership between the Nepean Careers Forum and local businesses.
The principal sponsor was apprenticepower, a major employer of apprentices across Western Sydney through a group training scheme. apprenticepower Managing Director Ian Tucker said “the attendance at this years’ Western Sydney Apprenticeship and Traineeship Expo clearly demonstrates the notion of the clever country is alive and thriving, to take advantage of the talent that presented on the night, I would implore all employers to join with me and secure the skills future of our country and industry by offering these talented young people an apprenticeship or traineeship.”
Careers Advisors from the Nepean Careers Forum were a huge hit with the crowd and were kept busy all night meeting with job seekers and parents to discuss career options and job seeking strategies.
“In most cases the Expo kicks off the recruitment process and now the follow-up interviews will commence,” said Tracy Ryan, Chair of the Nepean Careers Forum. “Our advice to candidates is to follow the instructions from recruiters and to certainly call them in a few days or within the week,” said Ms Ryan.
Western Sydney Institute TAFE had a dozen teachers on hand to answer hundreds of course enquiries. Education Director, Mr Dennis Rice, said TAFE was absolutely delighted to meet so many school leavers keen to continue their Vocational Learning and get a kick start into a future apprenticeship or traineeship.
Australian Business Limited Apprenticeships Centre spent the evening answering questions from employers and job seekers about how to get started as an apprentice or trainee. Western Sydney Manager Michelle Baillie said many employers are still unaware that Apprenticeships Centres provide a free service to employers to process the essential paperwork and claims for incentives. “The Federal Government’s Kickstart Initiative has tripled the commencement incentives for small and midsized businesses that have taken on a new young apprentice aged 19 years or under in a skills needs trade, but they only have til 12th November this year.” said Ms Baillie.
The Expo was a huge success by any measure and organisers are now looking to expand the partnership in preparation for an even bigger event in 2011.
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