5\r\n\r\nSKILLS & TRADE\r\n\r\nThe Career Start programme is funded by\r\nthe Tamaki Redevelopment Company – an\r\nNGO charged with urban development in\r\nthe Tamaki area. The Auckland Chamber of\r\nCommerce manages the scheme.\r\nCareer Start is aimed at 17-24 year-olds,\r\nand one of those to have just completed the\r\nweek-long course is Memorie Mingi. The\r\n20-year-old is hoping for a career in customer services or fashion retail, and spent a\r\nweek with 27 other people learning how to\r\nget the job they want.\r\nMemorie, who has had six month’s work\r\nexperience, says it felt strange walking\r\ninto a room with so many people she didn’t\r\nknow on the first day of the course.\r\n“We were all quiet at first, but after a\r\nfew hours we started talking and making\r\nfriends,” says Memorie. “We got to know\r\neach other, which was a good thing.\r\n“We all had to introduce ourselves, and\r\nwhen I introduced myself it wasn’t that\r\ngreat, but by the end of the day I had leant\r\nhow to tell people about myself and make\r\neye contact when speaking.\r\n“The course helped me improve my CV,\r\nthe one I had had far too much detail, my\r\nself-confidence has improved, and I got to\r\nimprove my communication skills.”\r\nThe training, held at the Seventh Day\r\nAdventist Church in Glenn Innes, doesn’t\r\nend when the week is up. Members get to\r\nmeet for four Wednesdays to continue their\r\ntraining, develop their job hunting skills,\r\nand organisers work to match each of them\r\nwith a job.\r\nMemorie has already applied for a job in\r\nretail, and is waiting to hear if she will be\r\ncalled for an interview.\r\n“I’m still actively looking for a job –\r\nfashion retail is where I want to be,” she\r\nsays. “I just want to sell clothes. My dad\r\nworks in construction, I see him work and I\r\nwant to work too.”\r\n\r\nLivingstone Stefano also took part in the\r\ncourse. He says learning about body language, to express interest in what people\r\nsay, making eye contact and having a firm\r\nhandshake “was an awesome experience”.\r\n“These are the kinds of simple things a\r\nteenager wouldn’t know about,” he says.\r\nLivingstone, 19, completed a pre-trade\r\ncourse in carpentry last year and is planning to study construction management at\r\nUnitech. He’s also looking for a carpentry\r\napprenticeship.\r\n“I’d like an apprenticeship, but there\r\naren’t too many around,” he says. “But\r\nwith talk of more houses being built in\r\nAuckland, that may open up some opportunities – otherwise I’ll have to consider\r\nmoving to Christchurch.”\r\nHe’s applied for three jobs since completing the programme, and says he will continue looking for work he can do while at\r\nUnitech “I’ll study and work”.\r\n“Career Start was an eye-opener for me,”\r\nhe says. “It’s great that people in business\r\nare giving up their time to help people. It’s\r\ngood to know we are not alone and that\r\nthere are people out there trying to help us.\r\n“I have been turned down for a lot of jobs\r\n– more than I can count – so having that\r\nrenewed self-confidence that the course\r\ngives you is good. Life is always a challenge, and when you get knocked down\r\nyou just got to get back up.\r\n“But I have big plans, and once I’m\r\ntrained and have experience, I hope to have\r\nmy own firm in construction management –\r\nthat’s the big dream.”\r\nDebra Lawson, TRC’s CEO, says the\r\nAuckland Chamber has been delivering work readiness programmes in South\r\nAuckland for the last five years, with\r\naround 80 per cent of those taking part\r\nlanding a job within eight weeks of completing it.\r\n\r\n“While the unemployment rate across\r\nAuckland is 8.1 per cent, in Tamaki the rate\r\nis 17 per cent,” she says.\r\n“With the significant increase in regeneration projects occurring across Tamaki,\r\nparticularly in housing, it is important that\r\nwe find a way to get our young people\r\nemployed in some of those projects or programmes.”\r\nPeople such as Livingstone and Memorie\r\naren’t left on their own having completed\r\n\r\nthe course, Debra says people who take\r\npart are supported for a year.\r\nShe says the programme has been tailormade to meet the needs of Auckland business and that it is one of several economic\r\ndevelopment initiatives being introduced\r\nto the area through the TRC’s urban regeneration programme.\r\nSteve Hart is a freelance reporter at\r\nwww.SteveHart.co.nz\r\n\r\nCareer Start is aimed at 17-24 year-olds and equips students with job-seeking skills and advice.\r\nPic Getty.\r\n\r\nIT’\r\nS\r\nEN NO\r\nFO RO T T\r\nR\r\nL O\r\n20 LING O L\r\nA\r\n14\r\nCO NO TE!\r\nUR W\r\nSE\r\nS\r\n\r\nTHINKING ABOUT\r\nA FUTURE IN\r\nHAIRDRESSING?\r\n\r\nTALK TO US ABOUT HOW WE CAN\r\nMAKE YOUR DREAM A REALITY.\r\nImages left to right: Brittanie Sowman, Level 4, Graduate course, intake G47, Gabrielle\r\nHoughton, Foundation course, intake 144, Jessy Leonard, Level 4 Graduate course, intake G47.\r\n\r\nTALK TO US NOW 0800 SERVILLES www.servillesacademy.com\r\n/academyservilles\r\n\r\n/servillesacademy\r\n\r\n/servillesacad\r\n\r\nServilles Academy of Hairdressing offers\r\nthe following courses:\r\n- 34 Week Foundation Certificate\r\n- 34 Week Advanced Certificate\r\n- Youth Guarantee (zero fees!)\r\n\r\nNew Zealand\r\nAPN\r\nCareer\r\nCareers\r\nEmployment\r\nTraining\r\nEducation\r\nStudents\r\nDigital Media\r\nBachelor of Digital Media\r\nSouthern Institute of Technology\r\nThe Learning Connexion\r\nSchool of creativity and Arts\r\nDiploma of Art and Creativity\r\nSkills and Trade\r\nCareer Jump Start\r\nCTC Aviation\r\nLaunch your careers as a professional pilot\r\nServilles Academy\r\nA future in hairdressing\r\nFreedom to roam\r\nNew Zealand School of Food and Wine\r\nCookery and Hospitality\r\nSt Johns\r\nFirst Aider\r\nProfessional Wine Knowledge\r\nUpgrade to a new IT career\r\nComputer Power Plus\r\nIT training specialists\r\nTertiary\r\nMassey University\r\nThe engine of New Zealand\r\nMoney Sense\r\nBecome a Veterinary Nurse\r\nVet Nurse Plus\r\nNew Zealand College of Chiropractic\r\nIndependent\r\nPPTA\r\nLaidlaw College\r\ndiploma in theology\r\ndegrees in theology\r\nHITO\r\n\r\n