Powercor scholarship recipient Zoe Pilmore discovered her dream job through a pre-apprenticeship at Victoria Polytechnic.
“As a little girl, my favourite weekends were spent tagging along with my Dad for his work. Being a Linesman at Powercor, I was always fascinated watching him in the industry and I was sure I'd love working in it myself.
All my teachers have industry experience in various fields, so I've got a wide variety of stories and advice from them. It was so helpful to complete my cabling unit under a man that has worked with electronics on-the-job. I love learning from people who have passion for the industry.
Victoria Polytechnic provides mathematics and electrical theory support through a classroom helper. These subjects can be hard for someone who hasn't done VCE maths, so it was so useful to have one-on-one assistance when I needed it.
Thanks to my teachers at Victoria Polytechnic I was connected with Powercor for the scholarship. Powercor offered eight females in Victoria undertaking the pre-apprenticeship [Certificate II in Electrotechnology Studies] $2000 to give us a kick-start. A resume and an interview later, and thanks to my TAFE and the company, I've been able to purchase tools so I can get out into the workforce.
I've now begun my apprenticeship with ARTC as a Signal Maintenance Technician. I'm so happy to have found a job in my regional area, and I'm very proud of what I'm learning from my great mentors.
I have enjoyed every single experience at TAFE. If it wasn't for the excitement and passion this course gave me I wouldn't have found my dream job! For anyone thinking about TAFE definitely do it. You can't get on-the-job skills like these at university. Every unit you complete in your apprenticeship is getting you closer to becoming the employee companies want.”