In mid-2017 I happened to come across an advert for an 18 month business traineeship at the Dumbleyung Community Resource Centre (CRC) completing a Certificate III in Business. Next thing I knew, I had applied for the job, had the interview, and was then successful in getting the job - exciting times ahead!
At the time I was studying a Certificate III in Aged Care, working as a part time nanny and doing other odd jobs round the town! I had never studied business and I wasn’t the most ‘tech savvy’ person you would come across and though I came into the role not really knowing what to expect, I was very excited to learn new things!
Over the 18 months I have made mistakes and learnt from them, learnt completely new things and had moments where you just can’t help but laugh - Ally can vouch for me on that! One that comes to mind is when I had printed numerous copies for a customer and proceeded to laminate them, however, I accidentally copied and laminated all the wrong documents! A small mistake in hindsight but as I was new to the role I felt so bad! After much reassurance I realised that there are much worse scenarios and we were able to re print, laminate and complete the job for the customer.
The traineeship has provided me with an opportunity to learn so much in business and professional life. It’s also been an incredible opportunity to learn and grow locally, being able to stay home and study rather than leaving the town. My Certificate III in Business was challenging but with help and on the job learning I was able to complete my Certificate early!
I have learnt not only computing knowledge but so many things including general day to day business processes and procedures, how to write professional emails, record data, create flyers and brochures for our events. I have created business cards for locals, flyers for their advertisements and so much more! I’ve also been fortunate to gain experience in running events for the CRC, flying solo behind the desk learn to use different business equipment - one that comes to mind is the paper folding machine. I previously used to fold countless pieces of paper for our mail drop but it turns out this paper folding machine does it all for me in minutes - talk about time saving! I learnt how to do the Quack Chat both online and as a hardcopy on Wednesdays and with a bit of help I got there and became to enjoy collating the weekly news publication.
I celebrated two birthdays at the CRC, of which included computer pranks and lots of streamers and balloons at my desk. Though it did take me a while to clue into what prank Ally had pulled, I finally figured it out! Pranks aside, I’ve been fortunate to walk with some great people who have helped me in all aspects of my traineeship. I’ve made lifelong friendships with each and every one and am very lucky and appreciative to be walking away with so much more knowledge and great friends!
If you are thinking about doing a traineeship (whether it be here in Dumbleyung or elsewhere), I highly recommend doing so. The traineeship at the Dumbleyung CRC was a good mix of both work and study where I learnt so much and meet some truly wonderful people on the way!
By Paige Morris