GROWING as people has been the biggest lesson for two trainees involved in the City of Fremantle Traineeship Program.
Bennett Springs resident Ethan Kelly-Akee, who is in the communications and media department, said he found the position through a job network.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience; I’ve been in a lot of different departments, I started in records, IT, library and communications and media,” he said.
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READ NOW“Everything about the traineeship has been good, it has been the all around experience, this was my first job coming straight out of high school and I didn’t know what to expect.
“I’ve really grown as a person from these traineeships and really matured.”
Cockburn resident Tiarna Wynne, who is currently working as a people and culture administration assistant, said her journey to working with City was similar to Mr Kelly-Akee.
“The individual growth aspect is what I’ve learnt working in an office, I had no what I going into, what to wear, the time or anything like that,” she said.
“The skills, experience, the knowledge that’s definitely guided both myself and Ethan to where we are now.
“I think the hard aspects were the personal aspects but the City definitely did guide and support trainees which was good.”
Both Mr Kelly-Akee and Miss Wynne agree that anyone who is thinking of joining the program should go for it.
City of Fremantle Community Development director Fiona Hodges said the program recruited six trainees, with four staying on and being offered a 12 month position.
“They have all proved to be really valuable, we are not doing a charity service to them in terms of having them here, they have all earned their places because they performed so well and grown into their roles as people and professionals,” she said.
“A key for us was having a group of them go through together, rather than in isolation, they’ve had peer support.
“Going forward we hope to continue this program but we are looking at linking more with our Aboriginal elders and putting some mentorship in place.”
Application will open on September 24 here.