Both Matthew and Hugh, IT trainees from Maxima began their Traineeship and Certificate IV in IT and Networking in January 2018, working as a Trainee Systems Support Operator.

The trainees are organised, hardworking, and dynamic students taking on the IT world by providing IT and networking services, and supporting their office for all IT concerns.

Commenting on the Integrity training program, Matthew and Hugh told us that they “found the course to be both challenging in that it required them to learn new skills and move out of their comfort zone; it is also enjoyable as often we were given scenarios with practical application to the real world. Dylan (our trainer) has provided a lot of valuable insight and guidance throughout the course and at times kept us from overthinking the questions.” Matthew continued, “the environment at Integrity was very relaxing and put me at ease. Trainers were on hand to provide feedback and help whenever needed. Other students were very welcoming, and we all helped whenever one of us got stuck – very much a community environment.” Integrity strives to foster productive, creative, innovative spaces where students feel comfortable to expand and grow. We see support as a major facilitator of this kind of atmosphere, and we’re pleased to see our goals being realised for both Hugh and Matthew.

Integrity is also preoccupied with maximising the employability of our students and works with Maxima to make this a reality. In discussion of this and expanding skill sets, Matthew and Hugh shared that they have “taken on several new skills within the networking field thanks to this course and their employment, improving upon the foundations of what they already knew and being able to apply them to case studies. This has improved our employability as I have become more well-rounded and able to see the broader picture as a result”. As a result of the training the trainees are both able to understand a lot more of the networking and systems administrator aspects within the workplace such as why we use virtual machines and their benefits.” Continuing the thread, Matthew and Hugh’s manager told us that “the trainees are a big help in delivering support to our customers to the agreed Service Levels. The biggest advantage of having a trainees are their good customer service, willingness to learn, receptive to instructions and stringent in following procedures.” Integrity is pleased to see on both sides of the equation that Hugh and Matthew are both developing their skills grow in their roles.

Integrity believes in bringing challenges to our courses to teach our students to adapt to new situations. Matthew shared on the particular challenge of Project Management that “it was a meticulous process that involved a lot of insight into the needs of the client, however as this aspect was brought into later units I found it easier and easier to identify what was needed and how to present it to the client – skills that will greatly benefit me in the future.” The satisfaction of overcoming challenges is great to witness, and the enjoyment it brings. Matthew and Hugh told us, “creating and tinkering within Virtual Machines was by far the most enjoyable aspect of the course. It was great to take one Virtual Machine, build it up over the course of a few units and then re-create it to perform a completely different function. It was, simply put, a playground of creation.”

Moving forwards in conjunction with Maxima we hope to continue the successful outcomes that we have seen over a number of years and wish both Hugh and Matthew success with their careers come the conclusion of their traineeships.