East Coast Apprenticeships Operations Manager Derek Carpendale joined this community based not-for-profit organisation 16 years ago, originally as the Employment Services Manager, and then in his current role for the last 10 years. It was a no-brainer for Derek to sign up to work for East Coast Apprenticeships as they really do have a genuine commitment to manage and support their apprentices and trainees right throughout the duration of their time under the training contract.
Seeing Apprentices and Trainees Thrive
Derek reckons the best bit about his job is seeing the apprentices and trainees thrive in their job and build relationships with their host employers and team members. All of the team at East Coast currently have some involvement with the 500+ apprentices or trainees and find it extremely rewarding to see them complete their apprenticeship or traineeship. It is even better when the apprentices or trainees go on to supervisory or management roles in their industry.
All About Community
Having been a member of the local community for more than 30 years, East Coast Apprenticeships are proud to have provided employment opportunities to thousands of local job seekers, and supported local small and medium-size businesses by assisting them in managing their apprentice and trainee requirements. Also, after more than 30 years as a Group Training Organisation, East Coast are proud of their many qualified apprentices now running their own businesses and providing employment opportunities for locals looking to start on their career path.
Creating Good Culture, From the Get-go
The East Coast Apprenticeship staff work with the same focus and caring nature, and Derek is extremely proud of all of the staff, regardless of their role. He strongly advocates that everything they do is working towards:-
- finding employment opportunities with quality host employers
- finding committed and enthusiastic applicants
- matching applicants with employers
- managing and supporting both host employer and apprentices/trainees to successful outcomes
Apprentice of the Year
Every year East Coast Apprenticeships holds an annual Awards Night where we recognise the outstanding contributions of our Host Employers and Apprentices and Trainees. In addition to Host Employer and trainee awards, Apprentice nominations are separated into categories depending on their trade (e.g. Carpentry, Electrical, Engineering etc.), and from the winners of each category, an overall Apprentice of the Year is chosen.
Derek reaffirmed that they were absolutely delighted to have had the support of local Community Bank Samford branch, who have sponsored their Apprentice of the Year award since 2018. Everyone at East Coast Apprenticeships appreciates the ongoing support of Bendigo Community Bank and love working with another local, community-based organisation that does so much to help people and businesses within the local community.
The future for East Coast Apprenticeships
Derek is committed to their focus as an organisation that continues to provide opportunities to people seeking to start or complete a trade career and support and mentor them throughout to work towards completing their qualification. He is hopeful that they will continue to grow as they are always looking for new industries or regions to match enthusiastic applicants with quality host employers.
It is this commitment to supporting and looking out for new opportunities for local young people that is just one of the reasons that we at Community Bank Samford branch love working with Derek and his team at East Coast Apprenticeships – we are confident that they will succeed and help many young locals have a bright 2022.
