Requalified for work

DANDENONG residents aiming to get back into the workforce have graduated with business and hospitality qualifications thanks to a new program.
The Productivity Places Program run by CLB Training aims to train long term, unemployed people with the skills to break back into the workforce.
The program is funded under the Federal Government’s Skilling Australia’s Future initiative and CLB Training has been running its program in Dandenong.
Last week, participants of CLB Training’s Certificate II in Hospitality Operations, and Certificate II in Business graduated with a ceremony at the Ramada Encore Hotel in Dandenong.
Forty people graduated and can now look forward to careers in hotels, bars or restaurants, or almost any office environment.
CLB Training CEO Charissa Harrison said her company was a registered training organisation and the funding allowed it to offer the courses free to long term unemployed people.
She said the program was flexible to suit the needs of the adult students, some of whom were parents and had to fit in studies with picking up and dropping off children at school.
Ms Harrison said that the Dandenong program was extremely diverse which helped the group given it had to complete a unit of working in a culturally diverse environment. Training took place at the Ramada Encore Hotel and Ms Harrison said that even though students had graduated, CLB Training would still be on hand to offer them careers guidance.