When Rachel Watling first came to BUSY Ability she had been unemployed for nearly five years and was struggling with self-esteem, her confidence at an all-time low.
With the best intentions and believing that Rachel just needed to try her hand at something, her employment consultant at BUSY Ability put her forward for a traineeship in hospitality with ICON Training.
ICON Training is a hospitality school situated in the heart of The Kitchens in Robina Town Cenre. The training school supports disadvantaged persons to find a career path in hospitality by offering traineeship positions at the training centre. The trainees then have opportunities to move into hospitality positions with the many restaurant connections at Robina and on the Gold Coast.
ICON Training, under their charity arm, KidzFoodz annually provide approximately 40,000 meals for the homeless and 7,000 meals for disadvantaged school students on the Gold Coast. The training students help to create these meals, under training guidance of a head chef.
While many of the students graduate and move onto careers in hospitality, not everyone is suited for the hospitality industry and Rachel quickly discovered that she was one of those people.
Luckily, Paul Morffew, Managing Director at ICON, saw Rachel’s potential and offered her an alternative traineeship opportunity in the office as receptionist and administration support. After a short trial, Rachel quickly realised that this was the career direction she wanted to take and she was soon signed up to undertake a two-year part time business administration traineeship with ICON.
“BUSY and ICON have a great working relationship, we utilise each other’s strengths to get the best outcome for our students”.
“Rachel was a part of that program and we found she didn’t really have a niche for hospitality so we thought business might be a better option for her. We found a role for her at ICON as receptionist/ business trainee”, Paul Morffeau stated.
Rachel couldn’t be happier and has now found her career path in business administration.
“BUSY Ability helped me with quite a lot of things, the main one being my anxiety about going to interviews. Coming to work now really gives me a sense of purpose”, Rachel stated.
Especially for younger people, finding a career path can often take some trial and error.
Jason Shield, CEO of BUSY Ability agrees, “I think as long as someone is willing to have a go, like Rachel did, that shows an employer they are willing to work. We’re ecstatic that Rachel has a new-found confidence and a sense of purpose through a career pathway that suits her. We look forward to further supporting her career success moving forward”.
Rachel has a new sense of purpose, thanks to a traineeship role in Business Administration with ICON Training.
For more information on ICON Training and KidzFoodz visit https://icontraining.com.au/
For more information on how BUSY Ability can assist persons with an injury, health condition or disability into work visit www.busyability.org.au or call 1800 761 561
Find out more about ICON Training and Rachel’s journey:
The BUSY Group acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to the land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and their Elders past and present.
