NO ORDINARY JOB

Investment Magazine, July 2011 Edition, Page 53

By Sam Riley

For some, work is just a job. But for Aboriginal teenager Isaac Young gaining employment was life changing.

Young, 18, was going to quit school but went to an Australian Employment Covenant information session in July last year that led him to being selected for a school-based traineeship with ANZ Bank. Young, a year 12 student from Victoria's Waverley Christian College, says:"I was going to quit school and I guess I was just giving up".

"Now I see there there is a lot more out there than just working in any job and trying to get by. Especially, doing this traineeship I now see opportunities for myself that I never felt were possible."

Young is now into his final year of school and works one day a week in an ANZ branch as a bank teller.

Sicne 2003, the bank has taken on more than 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees in branches across Australia. Trainees receive an income while they are learning and also a national certificate. An aboriginal mentor and support from the bank staff are also provided.

An ANZ spokesperson says the bank takes on about 100 Indigenous trainees every year, with more than 180 positions currently available for those who complete the traineeship.

Young says his experience of working in the bank has made him want to pursue a career in finance. At school he is studying maths, accounting and english and hopes to go on to study commerce and finance at Melbourne University.

"I wasn't thinking of going to university, I was just thinking of getting whatever job I could when I left school," he said.

"Once I started doing this [the traineeship] a lot of people provided me with support, especially the guys at ANZ. I actually started thinking I could go to university."