Pitt & Moore - Six placements and still going
strong!
Nelson firm Pitt & Moore has been an early adopter and advocate of Employment Scholarships.
With five placements in the first three years, Partner Mick Hollyer considers that the firm is
delighted to be associated with Employment Scholarships.
"For the young people involved, it provides an opportunity at entry-level employment that would
not otherwise be available to them. Combined with a personal employment development programme, this
provides an excellent springboard for future employment. For us the pre-selection process provides
an efficient means of securing motivated junior staff with the potential to progress to more senior
positions," comments Mick Hollyer.
Pitt and Moore's third appointment was Giselle Sigglekow who attended Waimea College. Giselle's
goal is to keep on learning more advanced tasks and skills involved in her job as a legal
secretary. Jacinta Shutkowski was the fourth appointment who also attended Waimea College; she has
recently graduated to the position of Receptionist. Angela Watkins, last years scholar has
moved on to further studies in Christchurch and Melinda Steyn the new Scholar, who attended Nelson
College for Girls is quickly learning the role of Office Junior.
Tasman District Council
2003 was the first year for Tasman District Council's participation in the Employment
Scholarships scheme. Their initial experience was such a success that Tasman District Council
signed up a further two young people for 2004 and another two for 2005 along with entering into an
agreement with another student who was unable to remain with her original employer due to a
business re-organisation in November last year.
TDC's Human Resources Manager, Anne Stevens, says, "The Employment Scholarships Scheme works
very well for Council in that it frees up staff time to get on with work that would normally be
allocated behind their day to day activities. It also allows Council to further support the wider
Tasman community by helping young people gain skills for their future. We have had two students
with us for the last two years and they have made an extremely valuable contribution to the
organisation during their time with us. We have been extremely pleased with the Employment
Scholarships and I foresee that we will continue to have students with us in the future."
Letesha Jennens (2003 ES student), one of the first employment scholarships students who
worked at Tasman District Council, is presently studying for a Bachelor of Commerce at Otago
University, but keeps in regular contact with the IS department where she spent her scholarship
year on the Helpdesk.
Hayley Paterson (2004 ES student) and Camille Visser (2005 ES student) who were also employed in
the Helpdesk area, have since been replaced by Chantelle James (2006 ES student). Working on the
computer helpdesk, Chantelle is the first person that any of Tasman District Council's 150+ staff
call upon if anything goes wrong, so she fulfils a very important function for the
organisation.
Working in the Records area of TDC Fergus Strickland was the 2003 Employment Scholarship
student.
Jenni Payne (2004 ES student) and Miriam Hoy (2005 ES student) were a great help to the
organisation with their adaptability by working in a number of areas namely accounts and records in
an office junior role. Michelle Hart has now taken over this role from Miriam and is again
providing excellent service and support to staff and Council.
Nelson Credit Union - Four Placements
Nelson Credit Union realised the benefits of Employment Scholarships very early on and has
already seen three students graduate through the scheme.
"We only have six permanent members, two full-time and four part-time", explains general manager
Derrick Gould, "but we are committed to helping young people where we can. Susan and Sally have
been excellent employees; they have fitted in really well in responsible positions with lots of
customer contact. This month has seen our new scholar, Chance, start work as a full time
employee."
Participating firms include:
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