Case study: Michelle

Michelle Doherty loves her job at the Australian Swimwear Company Pty Ltd, the company behind major brands Bond-Eye and Moontide.

“You meet really interesting people here, fashion designers, public relations people, owners of major retail outlets and models,” she says. “We had a photo-shoot in the building just last week.”

Before contacting WorkVentures, Michelle worked casually for a photographic company. The fashion industry is a completely new environment for her. She believes that the tasks entailed in a Certificate III in Business are easier to grasp when they are put into practice on the job. Modules that could be a bit confusing in a formal course make perfect sense here.

One of her new skills is using the fashion-specific Niche garment data management system. “We send all the order details to the customers, attaching photographs of the designs.”

The job has some side-benefits. “Surry Hills is good place to work. There are lots of design studios around here, and you don’t have to wear business suits like in the CBD. The style is smart casual.”

Michelle recently used her fashion sense to suggest some costumes for a contestant on New Zealand’s Next Top Model. The company is expanding its markets, and Michelle’s colleagues are already busy on next summer’s designs. “All my friends are buying our swimsuits now,” she says. “And I recently gave WorkVentures’ phone number to one of my friends.”

Michelle recalls that her recruitment counsellor, Lesley Kirkland, had only recently started at WorkVentures. “So it was a first for both of us; I was the first trainee she placed, and I got the job I really wanted at the first interview she sent me to.”

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