Search

Taranaki Regional Report April 08

CATE Taranaki has had an active six months since our last AGM in August last year.  It was decided to have an early AGM in 2008 to bring the regional branch in line with the requirements of the national constitution.

Fifteen of our local members attended national conference in Invercargill in November 07.  Members were impressed with the range of professional development topics, the international speakers and the professionalism of conference functions.  This all gave rise to lots of discussion about what we are going to do in New Plymouth in November 08.  CATE Taranaki members went on to set up some `good vibrations’ in a promotion of our `Catching the Wave’ CATE conference 08.  

Our final meeting for the year coincided with a Career Services industry update day hosted by Fonterra in Hawera. 

Again the Career Services update day in February presented an opportunity to get together and discuss a range of issues including: the new Career Education in Practice Handbook, Section 71 in relation to placing students in the workplace or in training, Expo, setting up a regional events calendar, updates to the local Taranaki careers website, the regional tertiary training needs evaluation and conference 08.

Members indicated they liked the format of a sponsored evening meeting for the AGM, and this year’s AGM was very kindly sponsored by the Taranaki Engineering Consortium.  The meeting was preceded by a presentation on trends in the local engineering sector along with career pathways within engineering given by regional training officer Ian Major and engineering Liaison officer Salevi Tiatia.  The Taranaki consortium was the first of its kind to be formed in the country.  Salevi outlined how he works with school leavers, supporting them through training and giving them job search advice and assistance.  He emphasised the workforce needs of the sector and its commitment to recruiting and supporting young people who are interested in entering the industry.  He was particularly interested to hear from girls interested in engineering saying that the industry had a number of roles and positions that were well suited to girls, and it was recognised that girls brought an added dimension to the workforce.  Both speakers indicated that school leavers had a difficult time competing with graduates of the local polytechnic/PTE courses unless they had gained experience through Gateway.  Salevi said he preferred to work with young people from the age of 17 yrs.  Ian outlined the huge increase in modern apprentices in the region over the last two years and reiterated the difficulties Competenz industries (including engineering, manufacturing and food) were facing in recruiting suitable staff.  He noted that most local employers were using internal training and development as a strategy to retain staff.

CATE Taranaki currently has 25 financial members.  We are in the process of issuing invitations to a range of related organisations to join our branch which will enhance our networking opportunities.