Truckmaker gives truck show careers initiative the thumbs up
The Brisbane Truck Show’s Jobs Hub gains a Scania seal of approval after facilitating a meeting of minds with prospective entrants to the industry.
The truckmaker reports that Michele Gellatly, director of people and culture for Scania Australia, and Trevor Davies, Scania’s P&C business partner, spent four days meeting with a wide range of job seekers and students considering a career in trucking and truck-related services.
Scania driver trainer David Whyte also provided insights into his role and his career, which was supercharged in 2007 when he won Scania’s inaugural Young Truck Driver of the Year competition.
Following the win, and several years of truck driving combined with a budding career as a truck journalist, Whyte joined Scania around 18 months ago in the role of driver trainer, spending his weeks alongside Scania customers in the cab and the classroom.
“On the first two days the HVIA brought more than 650 school students to the show to find out how a career in the industry can provide an exciting and stable future,” Gellatly says.
“These students were interested in automotive and engineering programmes and we were able to provide them with details of the apprenticeships we offer at Scania Australia that can lead to a full-time job within our nationwide network of company-owned branches.
“We met with several students who we can see already have the right attitude and enthusiasm for an apprenticeship at our Brisbane branches.
“These were confident and mature students who had a firm idea of where they wanted their careers to go.
“We also saw a lot of students who were yet to make up their minds about their career choices, so we provided them with a lot of information about Scania: who we are, our core values and our company footprint in Australia and globally.”
Read how the HVIA focused on careers at the BTS, here
According to Whyte, one of the biggest surprises for high school students was the variety of driving jobs available.
“Their eyes really lit up when they heard you could be hauling the contents of a rock concert around one day and general freight the next, or the many different driving jobs available, and also that you meet a lot of really good people working in the industry and we all get along well,” he says.
According to Gellatly, one of the highlights was meeting with a young man for whom the prospect of a job with Scania could help him get his career back on track.
“We met a student who had fallen out of the school system a few years ago and who was struggling with his career prospects, but who has a lot of enthusiasm for an apprenticeship,” she says.
“With the right approach and the mentoring that is a feature of our programme we may be able to give this candidate the training that can set him up for a career as a technician.
“Overall it was a successful event for Scania.”