Successfully completing a Certificate III in Business through WPC Group, hosted at Kangan Institute, Broadmeadows, Zhney Gibson has used the skills she’s developed over the last 12 months to find her place within the workforce, with the Construction and Industrial department at Kangan Institute, Broadmeadows.
Upon completion of her VCE, Zhney commenced a degree at university, something she says wasn’t necessarily the path she wanted to take, “I was a bit lost in deciding what I wanted to do for a career. I was mostly at university to follow the conventional idea that you need to go after you finish high school in order to get a good job.” Struggling to find employment while at university due to her lack of prior experience in the workforce led Zhney to lack in confidence within herself.
Zhney found out about the Skilling Australia Foundation Citi New Recruits program when she started her search for a traineeship. The program would give her the opportunity to develop employability skills and work on gaining confidence especially when it came to applying for roles and attending interviews, “the Citi New Recruits program helped me gain a bit of my confidence and knowledge about the things to discuss and how to act in an interview.”
Completing the two weeks of face to face classroom based activities, Zhney spent a week at Kangan Institute Broadmeadows for work placement, where she impressed the team and was then offered a traineeship. Once Zhney completed her traineeship she was offered a fulltime role with Kangan Institute, Broadmeadows, where Zhney
continues to learn and advance her career, “I am looking forward to learning more from my co-workers and helping to improve the processes in my area.”
Zhney works in an environment where her colleagues are continually inspiring her through the ways they care about the work they do and the people they work with. They continually support Zhney and her passion to learn more, “they are always happy to help out by answering questions. They are keen to learn about new systems and processes”. Not only did the Citi New Recruits help Zhney gain skills to help her to start her career, it also helped her in her personal life, “I gained a better work life balance and it helped me get out of my shell a bit more. The fact that I was earning money for myself made me feel good and has allowed me to start saving. I even took my first holiday overseas to Bali with some family.”
Zhney has come a long way since commencing the Citi New Recruits in early 2019, sharing advice for someone who is thinking about starting an apprenticeship or traineeship, Zhney says, “You are not expected to know everything on your first day…As you learn each new task and ask questions about them, you’ll slowly find yourself more able to work independently and have your own tasks to look after.”
Zhney thanks Citi Foundation and Skilling Australia Foundation for the life changing experiences they have offered her.