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Wilfred Cox: Driving his way to success

01 June 2017
Jobs, Land and Economy
An Indigenous young man wearing work wear sits in the cab of a truck.

Wilfred has kick started his career again and become a role model to his family and is achieving his goals, Wilfred Cox made this happen with the support of his local VTEC provider.

Wilfred Cox’s career pathway was not as straight forward as he would have hoped.

After finishing Year 12 Wilfred started a Carpentry and Joinery apprenticeship but didn’t finish it.

“I was not quite ready and did not know if that was for me. I wanted to have other experiences so decided at that time I had to move on,” Wilfred said.

He moved to Halls Creek but after spending time there, Wilfred made a decision.

“Moving back to Kununurra and pursuing an apprenticeship as a tradesman became my goal,” Wilfred said.

Wilfred returned to Kununurra and contacted Vocational Training & Employment Centre (VTEC) provider, Kimberly Group Training (KGT) to get support he needed to reach his goal. He took part in KGT VTEC Industrial Skills pre-employment program to get the skills he needed.

VTEC’s model of pre-employment training was perfect for Wilfred.

“The pre-employment program made me sure that’s what I wanted to do for my life,” Wilfred said.

Once Wilfred completed the training, he was offered work with CWD Builders. This led to Wilfred being employed full-time with KGT while being hosted with a local company MGC Building and Construction Pty Ltd.

Seeing the potential in Wilfred, his host employer set a challenge for him to get his driver’s licence as soon as possible. They offered him a reward of $100 towards buying tools and Wilfred would get to drive the company vehicle to job calls.

Wilfred met the challenge and is now the proud owner of a driver’s licence. He is looking forward to going tool shopping with his supervisor.

“I am glad I finally got my licence. The support I received from my supervisor and KGT was very encouraging too. Whenever I felt down they picked me up and made me believe I could do it,” Wilfred said.

Find out more

The VTEC initiative is funded by the Australian Government. It connects Indigenous jobseekers with guaranteed jobs and brings together the support services necessary to prepare job seekers for long term employment.

For more information read Vocational Training & Employment Centres or email vtec@pmc.gov.au