Expo attendees explore new opportunities

COMMUNITY members looking for job opportunities, apprenticeships, traineeships and to volunteer gathered at The Goods Shed last Friday for the BGT Ballarat Jobs and Training Expo.

For the first time, the free initiative included the World Skills event where attendees could view live demonstrations and interactive displays.

Employers, training providers and support services were all on site providing attendees with contacts and ideas to try something new.

There were seminars about a range of topics including careers at the City of Ballarat, apprenticeship and traineeship pathways, and why Ballarat is a great employment destination.

Lateral Plains CEO Luke Fong spoke with attendees about career opportunities in cyber security, field engineering, and pathways into the industry.

“[The industry] has exploded 10 times over the last five years for us and it’s not slowing down anytime soon,” he said,

“We wanted to get in front of people and make sure that they know there are local IT companies as well as the bigger firms.”

BGT Jobs and Training’s training and compliance coordinator Lynette Clarke said she wanted to provide people with different perspectives about career opportunities.

“There are people, and I’m one of them, where the theoretical aspect of learning doesn’t really resonate,” she said.

“It’s about the practical application and so the idea of going off to university can be a little overwhelming.

“Being able to become an appreciative or trainee, or learn a vocational area such as early childhood education and care, it gives these students a different perspective of what they can do at this junction.”

The event was delivered in partnership with the City of Ballarat and sponsored by Accenture Australia, Lateral Plains, Orora, Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education and Workforce Australia.