Practical skills go up a level

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG residents will soon be able to translate prior learning into formal qualifications in a streamlined and time-efficient manner.
LINK Employment and Training is later this month launching the Skills Store program which aims to assess the qualified level of skilled workers who are without qualifications, or hold ones much lower than their current standard of work.
Skills Store team leader for LINK Employment and Training, Ree Paduano, said LINK would assess people and then help them enter a TAFE or Registered Training Organisation (RTO) at a level that reflected the experience they had gained on the job.
The Skills Store is a State Government initiative, Ms Paduano said, aimed at slashing the skills shortage facing Australian employers.
The initiative was officially launched early this year, but LINK Employment and Training has recently acquired the contract to handle the south-east Skills Store, and will officially launch it on 21 August at the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens.
The south-east Skills Store will service residents in cities including Greater Dandenong, Casey, and Cardinia, and is a free service.
Ms Paduano said the program was funded for 1400 people over three years, and would help skilled workers compete in an age where formal qualifications were preferred by employers.
She said LINK would also perform Skills Store audits on employees within a company to help make workplace training more efficient.
While its launch is two weeks away, Ms Paduano said the Skills Store was already receiving applications.
Contact customer service advisor Natalie Matthews at the Skills Store on 8710 6500 for more information.