Empowerment to employment
JAY Medley has gone from solving social problems to preventing them, in a new role empowering employment pathways.
With a background in social work, Mr Medley’s position is TAFE NSW Service Coordinator for the Myall St Campus, which involves creating connections between employers and potential employees across the Orana region.
“The focus is on bringing industry pathways together with education and training,” he told Dubbo Photo News.
“We want real links with industry and we want to focus on areas of need.
“It’s about obtaining a skilled workforce and upskilling in industry.”
Whether TAFE students are school-leavers or career changers, Mr Medley said there needs to be some attention given to pathways towards employment.
“Most people at TAFE are working on skill development ` and we have some really viable options now.”
From art and design, agriculture and environment to horticulture, hospitality and hairdressing, there’s a wealth of knowledge available.
“There was a push into universities but what we are seeing is that there are not enough jobs for university leavers.”
The qualifications offered by TAFE are proving to be beneficial to the local workforce and beyond.
“Our cornerstone is apprenticeships,” Mr Medley said. “The transition into the workforce from here is really strong, Dubbo’s construction sector is going great guns so that is a strong industry at the moment. Dubbo doesn’t just feed into Dubbo, it feeds into western NSW.”
Mr Medley was drawn to the role because he could see the potential to prevent the issues that arise from unemployment.
“It’s all about participation and I see TAFE as a meaningful pathway into employment and self-sufficiency. You can come into TAFE with a purpose and there’s real opportunities here.
“I am a tour guide to TAFE, taking information from TAFE out and from the community in. TAFE has real partnerships with the community and my role is to deliver those.”
Mr Medley is joined by fellow service coordinator Melissa Anderson at the Narromine Rd campus.
For more information about courses at TAFE, visit tafewestern.edu.au or call 1300 823 393.