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Transfield project plants business skills
The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council in Victoria had a problem—how to make sure the right native plants were planted in the right places around its local government district.
Enter home-grown global company Transfield Services, Regional Industry Career Adviser Peter Morris and six students from four local secondary colleges.
They teamed up to create an Adopt a School project that delivered a solution to the council’s real-life business dilemma and gave a major boost to the students’ business and employability skills.
The students were selected from 20 applicants, sourced by the Local Community Partnership’s Jill Warner. They won the job through interview after online application via Transfield Service’s employment web page.
Presentation under pressure
The students’ task was daunting—to research, formulate and present their solution to the Council within five days. To make it more challenging (but rewarding employability-wise), the first day and a half was taken up with OH&S training and team-building exercises.
Working out of Transfield Service’s offices, the team soon found themselves under pressure. Two of an original eight students dropped out as deadlines loomed.
But after midnight oil burning and a little weekend work, they delivered a 30-minute powerpoint presentation on their recommendations to a full sitting of the Council and a packed house of local residents and proud parents.
The genesis and the future
The genesis of the project lay in a careers education workshop about employability skills at Western Port Secondary College. Transfield Service’s contract manager Shane Walden was a panellist, saw the potential of bringing students into a project, and set the wheels in motion with Peter Morris.
Transfield Services is a leading global provider of operations, maintenance, asset management and project management services. The company is delighted with the outcome of the project and are looking to expand their Career Advice Australia involvement.
Through Peter Morris, they have contacted a Regional Career Adviser in South Australia and are setting up another Adopt a School project. They have taken on four school-based apprentices with Peter’s involvement, and are participating in a careers initiative with the Navy’s HMAS Cerberus.
Contact
Peter Morris
0448 852 726