Academy IT : Helping Students Begin Their IT Career Journey

15th June 2020

Highlights

This week we put a spotlight on one of our local Professional Partner Program (PPP) Members – Academy IT.
Brian Peel, Academy IT Managing Director, responded to our request for a good news story and is asking if we have any employers that may be willing to employ a trainee under an Academy IT Traineeship Program.

ACS Professional Partner Program (PPP) members from South Australia, Academy IT, recently delivered an IT Pre-Traineeship to a number of unemployed persons and thus far has managed to get 4 students a full-time Job with a local IT company that needed additional staff for their Service Desk teams.

Upon completing the course – students were presented to the employer for an interview and this is what that employer said:

“When I met with the students I was blown away by their quality. We had been interviewing for months with candidates from LinkedIn, Seek and from recruiters however we both agreed that the (Academy IT) students were the strongest candidates we had met in both their ability and from a cultural fit”.

Academy IT designed this short 8-week course in consultation with a number of ICT employers and ACS SA Branch Manager – Mandy Watson, to ensure students received present-day entry-level industry skills that would be of value to both the employer and the students. Students were also supported with ACS Student Membership. The course was part-funded under the Skilling South Australia Initiative and supported by the Government of South Australia.

This is what one of the students said in relation to the course and for Academy IT linking him to a job:

What impact has completing this course had for you?

Before the course: I had been unemployed for years, not through lack of trying. I knew I was capable, but it was extremely difficult attempting to enter the workforce without prior experience or knowing the right people, and having to live at the same time on Newstart was not helping

During the course: I really enjoyed the training Academy IT provided. I had a longstanding interest in computers from a user level but knew little about IT from a business/enterprise perspective. Academy IT Trainers were very knowledgeable and helpful during the actual course content and very understanding and supportive of the obstacles/process of making us work ready. The course itself was quite intensive really: a lot of content packed into a small amount of time, but delivery and support worked well so that we could reach competency in the required areas. Also, Academy IT and in particular Brian’s efforts to put us in front of employers was more than I ever would have initially expected coming into the course, and it was honestly heartening to feel like someone had my back.

After the course: After the course ended, I was afforded the chance for a couple of work experience opportunities based off of Brian's efforts. Several of us landed interview opportunities, including myself, which eventually led to the outcome of finding a full-time job with a local MSP. I cannot overstate the positive impact that this has had on my life and am eternally grateful to the entire Academy IT crew. From the training side of things too, the knowledge they provided laid a very good foundation for the situations and scenarios I am now faced with, and I suspect gave me a leg up in knowledge compared to the average entry-level technician.

Academy IT are considering running another similar program and are seeking any interest from employers that may be willing to employ a trainee under a Traineeship. For more details – Email contact: brian.peel@academyit.com.au