Leading EDGE Advocate Award

EDGE's Leading Advocate Award has always been held in high regard among employers and co-workers of people with disability. The award acknowledges co-workers who have gone out of their way to assist people with disability with whom they work.

EDGE recently awarded Andrew Moylan a Leading EDGE Advocate Award for his work with apprentices and trainees with disability. Andrew, who has been a Training Consultant with AMA for just over two years has been working with EDGE staff and trainees to help achieve Certificates II & III in Business Administration.

In addition to Andrew's hard work with his trainees, it's his positive attitude, flexibility and determination to assist people achieve their goals that has made him a true leader in training for people with disability. "Andrew has always demonstrated positivity and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to overcome any presenting barriers for these young students" said EDGE Team Leader, Sarah Di Tommaso. One of Andrew's trainees said that "AMA is open minded, positive and willing to offer an equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities to commence traineeships and gain skills toward joining the workforce."

EDGE looks forward to working with AMA & Andrew for years to come with the aim of getting people with disability qualified, employed and achieving their ambitions.

	(Left to Right): Brad Bolin, Diane Priest, Tess Turner and Brad Langley.

EDGE Events

Leadership Matters is a series of events that the West Australian has launched to bring high level national and international speakers to Western Australian businesses. Each speaker discusses interests relevant to businesses and key decision makers. EDGE has joined the Leaders Circle as part of the 2010 EDGE events calendar. EDGE has set out to invite some of their key businesses to these events and in recent times has had attendees from Hawaiian, PKF & Big W. In the near future EDGE and other key employers will be attending events with presenters such as Julia Gillard (Deputy Prime Minister) and Richard Vaughan (Divisional Vice President Commercial Operations Worldwide).

Another key initiative by EDGE for 2010 is a series of business networking evening held at EDGE to promote people with disability to a large range of businesses from many industries. The first of these evenings was held on Thursday 11th of March with keynote speaker, John Poynton from Azure Capital. He is also deputy chairman of Austral Limited and is a Non-Executive Director of Burswood Limited.

During his speech John spoke broadly about his professional experience and evoked discussion among the attendees about the WA economic climate and Perth City.

Those in attendance included decision makers from Australia Post, Bankwest, Bunzl, David Jones, Edith Cowan University, Hawaiian Group, KPMG, Lotterywest, National Australia Bank, Officeworks, RPH, SKG, Skywest, City of Subiaco, Target Australia, Vesco Foods , The West Australian, Westpac and Woolworths. Keep an eye out for our next quarterly event.

Supported Work Experience and Training (SWEAT) Program

Kifa participating in one of the SWEAT placements at KPMG.

The SWEAT Program will give all Year 12 students with a disability (intellectual, learning, physical or sensory) an opportunity to gain work experience in industries offering good prospects for traineeships, apprenticeships and general employment.

The program will give students an insight into various occupations, workplace practices and work behaviours with the potential to lead to a traineeship, apprenticeship or general employment.

Three SWEAT Co-ordinators work in conjunction with 40 schools around Perth and link students to suitable work experience placements in their area.

Students are nominated by teachers and selected by EDGE to complete a one day-per-week supported work experience placement over 12 weeks across an array of industries. Depending on the outcome of the work experience placement, students may move into work based traineeship, apprenticeship or general employment.

The expanded SWEAT Program will be launched in June 2010. For further information please contact Craig Robb, Jenny Fuller or Rebecca Pileggi at EDGE on 08) 9286 6600.

Profile - Job Seeker

a chat with Xavier

So Xavier, tell me about yourself.

My Name is Xavier Teo. I'm 29 and I have been married for three years. I'm expecting a baby boy in two weeks. I have worked and studied in both Singapore and Australia in the past few years, which has given me a wealth of experience and knowledge.

In 10 words or less, how would you describe yourself to an employer?

I'm passionate, hardworking, relational, determined, a good communicator and team player.

Xavier, what sort of qualifications do you hold?

In 2004 I finished my Bachelor of Communications Majoring in Advertising & Public Relations at Edith Cowan University. While I was working for International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC) in Singapore I studied Management Development in 2006.

With your qualifications in mind, what career are you now seeking?

I am seeking a business development role in any industry, but I would also like to work in sales or customer service.

Can you tell me some of the highlights from your work history, so far?

I started working in 2000 at DBS, which is the biggest bank in Singapore. At that time I was working in a call centre and as a result of my performance I was handpicked to move teams into telemarketing for DBS.

In 2004 I started working for IQPC (International Quality and Productivity Centre) as a Sales Executive.

From my success as a Sales Executive I was promoted to Sales Manager and was responsible for overseeing a small teams sales targets. I really learnt a lot from this role and it really helped broaden my skill set.

In 2007 I started working for Westpac Perth, Western Australia. I was employed in the area of Business Development. My role included assisting the Sales Managers and liaising with the eastern states offices.

So you've had quite a bit of Sales and Business Development experience. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I like to have coffee with friends, watch movies, spend time with my family and play snooker, when I can.

Why should an employer employ you?

Because I'm very passionate about what I do, I'm hard working, I have been exposed to a variety of industries and knowledge which I am able to utilise in any worksite, I have a great deal of perseverance and I have a willingness to go above and beyond what is required to get the job done.

After sustaining an head injury from a motorcycle accident, Brett had to overcome cognitive barriers and his own personal doubts to complete his apprenticeship. But with the determination and support family, friends and EDGE Brett completed his apprenticeship and is now a certified tradesman.

Brett has been assisted by EDGE for a number of years and recognises EDGE's support as an important ingredient in his success. When asked what he thought of achieving the status of a qualified baker Brett remarked, "It has given me the opportunity to prove myself as a tradesman, finally the hard work has paid off and it was all worth it . . . I realised I was capable of doing the job and it has set me up for success and prosperity . . . now I am fully qualified baker I can afford to do and get the things I want."