Kathleen was someone who struggled through school to maintain average to good grades. She found it difficult to put things into practice in a classroom environment.

Realising a trade role was something that would suit her, Kathleen enrolled in a Certificate III in Telecommunications, hosted by Telstra. The course appealed to her as she already had a background of fault finding and problem solving through her job as a mechanic.

Kathleen found that being able to study exactly what she was going to later carry out in the field helped reinforce the technical information she was learning.

Her confidence in her new profession means Kathleen performs her duties without second guessing her decisions.

For the first ten months of her traineeship, Kathleen had a mentor, which she feels is crucial for any trainee.

This enabled Kathleen to feel a sense of accomplishment while still learning, making the whole experience encouraging and fulfilling.