Microsoft Traineeship Program empowers students to kick start a career in technology
Mark Leigh
One Commercial Partner Lead
Microsoft Australia
The first cohort of the Microsoft Traineeship Program will kick off on Monday 18 February, with a diverse and talented mix of candidates. The pilot, commencing in Sydney, will combine a Certificate IV in Information Technology and Microsoft Certifications with paid work experience. Companies such as Datacom, DXC, ANZ, oobe and KPMG have signed on to provide an initial 50 trainees with four days per week of paid work experience. TAFE NSW will then be providing the technical education and certification component one day per week. This combination of knowledge and experience will set students up to embark upon a successful career, while importantly helping to address the technical skills shortage in Australia.
Microsoft is partnering with strategic delivery partner MEGT to recruit trainees through a rigorous assessment process, with candidates undertaking an online skills test, telephone interview and a face-to-face interview in an assessment centre before being recruited into the program. Over a thousand applications have poured in from a diverse range of backgrounds since the program launched November 2018.
We’re very proud of the successful placement of the candidates and the collaboration with our partner community in Australia to ensure the right fit for their organisations. KPMG and oobe were two of the first partners to sign on to host trainees.
KPMG’s Director/Solutions Architect, Steven Wong is responsible for interviewing/placing the candidates within KPMG. “We managed to find 3 candidates who were articulate and passionate, as well as embodying our firm’s values towards supporting the community. We are now well on our way to onboarding our trainees and putting together their learning plans with TAFE NSW,” says Wong.
The three candidates placed within KPMG all have strong leadership skills and placed 80% or above in the Prodigy Learning Digital Skills assessment. One candidate received the Young Citizen of the Year award from Georges River Council, another has gained industry knowledge and pursued her passion through retail in technology and the third is applying her customer service and teamwork experience to embrace a brand new career direction through this program.
In Canberra, oobe also jumped on board quickly and extended an offer to a rising female star. This final candidate is very eager to learn and jump into coding and is committed to relocating to participate in this program. Trenae Buick, Office Manager at oobe shared, “We are excited to be providing [our trainee] with an opportunity to commence her working career at oobe. We look forward to her joining the team and enjoying the oobe culture. oobe will be able to provide her with a range of experience and skills that will assist her in becoming a leader in her chosen field in the years to come.”
We look forward to sharing more stories about these and other Microsoft Traineeship Program candidates, and providing updates on their success throughout the journey. We’re thrilled to see our first wave of students secure their placements within our partner network and we hope this is the start to an exciting and rewarding career in IT, and a successful partnership for all!
Want to get on board?
We are looking for more partners to participate in the program, with a second cohort of trainees expected to start in April 2019.
If you are interested in becoming a host partner you can learn more from the Host Employee Guide or please reach out to our National Skills Program manager, Beth Worrall, Beth.Worrall@microsoft.com.