Realise your potential. Get qualified and get ahead, without leaving work.
What's in this for me?
If you’re aged 16 to 21 and work in a central or local government organisation, you may be eligible for a modern apprenticeship, or cadet programme, through The Skills Organisation. This means you can earn a qualification while you’re working, and you won’t have to take out a student loan.
Sound interesting?
The Skills Organisation cadet programme is designed so you can learn towards achieving a formal qualification, while you work. A coach or mentor is appointed by The Skills Organisation who will work with you and your employer to coordinate your training programme.
When complete, you will achieve a recognised qualification that is NZQA approved, and will set you up for a lifetime career.
Get qualified in:
- Administrative excellence
- Effective compliance
- Customer support
- First Line Management.
What’s involved
The Skills Organisation cadet programmes are aimed at 16 to 21 year olds who are currently employed in a central or local government organisation, and who are keen and motivated to learn. You do not need any previous qualifications to be eligible.
If this sounds like you, talk to your manager, or contact The Skills Organisation directly and we can arrange that for you.
How this works
Our programmes are designed to allow you to learn on the job. Your coach, or mentor, will teach you the skills that are relevant to specific unit standards. There may also be workshops to attend and some independent study. Most of our programmes take around two years to complete.
Contact your human resource manager about how a cadetship in the public sector can work for you. Or if you need further advice, contact The Skills Organisation.
Go ahead and take the first step towards a better future.
What's in this for my organisation?
Workplace development is a cost effective way to retain your staff, invest in the next generation to ensure a high level of public services for the future, and boost your business productivity, with the minimum of disruption to you and your employees.
As the coordinator of cadetships (or Modern Apprenticeships), for central and local government, The Skills Organisation will make it easy for you and your employee to successfully complete a structured workplace learning programme that benefits you both. Our programmes lead to qualifications that are registered on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.
The end result is that you have a more engaged employee, and a more productive organisation that provides better service to your clients.
You stand to gain
- more skilled, motivated and productive staff
- fostering staff working relationships
- no break in productivity
- investment in the next generation.
What’s your investment?
Simply sign a training agreement with your cadet that commits you to support him or her for the duration of the programme, and The Skills Organisation will do the rest for you.
We will:
- work with you to find a programme to suit you and your cadet
- help identify trainers and assessors from within or outside of your organisation
- provide assessment guides and assignments through the online New Zealand Learning Platform
- provide coaching
- support you and your cadet throughout the process.
Jessie Donald, encouraging people to help themselves
Jessie Donald was 18 when she began working as a case manager with Work and Income in New Plymouth. Initially expecting it to be a gap year between leaving college and going to university, Jessie was well and truly hooked by her second day on the job.
Through Work and Income’s targeted recruitment approach, aimed at encouraging youth under 21 years of age to begin a career in the public sector, Jessie was offered the chance of a cadetship. The cadet programme, The Skills Organisation (formerly Learning State) Modern Apprenticeship Programme, allowed Jessie to continue her learning and gain real work experience at the same time. Within two years, Jessie completed her cadetship and achieved two qualifications, the National Certificates in Public Sector Services (Client/Customer Service) Levels 3 & 4.
“It’s been good to learn different things like conflict management. It made me more aware of other people’s situations and to not judge them. It’s about learning to listen.”
“You’ve got to love the job to be a good case manager. If you can’t relate to people, you can’t encourage them to help themselves. It’s so heart-warming to get thanked by people that you’ve been able to help. This has had a huge impact on my life.”
Jessie now works as qualifications advisor with the national training and development team, in Work and Income’s national office in Wellington, developing qualification programmes, and taking part in other national projects.
“I enjoy learning about different parts of the organisation and being able to apply my learning from the cadetship programme in these new roles. There are so many career opportunities in this line of work now open to me.”