Creating opportunities today for the landscape workforce of the future

Each year, Waratah Group Services (WGS) welcomes dozens of high school students into the business for work experience, giving many of them their first real look at the landscape industry. The placements help young people explore potential careers, while giving WGS the chance to identify emerging talent and develop its future workforce.

For some, a placement becomes the start of a career. WGS apprentice Junior first came to the company as a Year 10 work experience student and is now in the second year of his apprenticeship.

Hosting students this regularly takes coordination, supervision and mentoring from employees across the business. It also reflects WGS’s broader approach to the communities it works in, creating practical opportunities for local young people.

How the placements work

WGS hosts work experience students through MWLP, a not-for-profit organisation that has helped young people in South-West Sydney make the transition from school to work since 1995.

The students are generally around 16 years old and in Year 10, with most coming from schools in Campbelltown and Camden. Placements run throughout the year with WGS currently hosting at least one or two students most weeks.

Construction Manager Craig has coordinated the placements for several years. He organises each placement and works with team leaders to ensure students are welcomed, supported, and given meaningful workplace exposure.

Each student is introduced to the worksite and matched with experienced team members who guide them through the week. Depending on the work underway, they may be involved in planning, ordering, maintenance and site-based activities.

They also learn the everyday expectations of working life: arriving on time, listening to instructions, asking questions, following safety requirements and contributing as part of a team. For many, it is their first chance to see the range of people and skills involved in delivering a landscape maintenance project.

From work experience to apprenticeship

Work experience allows students to look beyond a job description and find out what the work is really like before committing to an apprenticeship. Not every student goes on to become an apprentice, but they do leave with a better understanding of the workplace and the career options available to them.

For Junior, work experience was the first step. After his Year 10 placement, he came back for another week and then joined WGS as an apprentice. He is now in the second year of his landscape construction apprenticeship, a practical example of what early exposure, workplace mentoring and the opportunity to prove yourself can lead to.