Real Stories

James Baker - Aged 20
First Year Electronics Apprentice at Tenix Defence.

"It turns out, with the prior learning, that it wasn't so hard to get a job in electronics. When I tried I had four job offers in two weeks!"

"In school I enjoyed physics and other different subjects but I left school and went to TAFE. I chose to do Electronics at Regency TAFE. Previous to starting my Apprenticeship here I was doing 20-25 hours of TAFE plus afternoon shift work at Foodland. I was told (by my parents) to stop being slack and get a real job or I can't stay at home ...

[ Read His Story ]

Tenix

Utilising an apprentice via The Engineering Employers Association Group Training Scheme (GTS) is beneficial as GTS manages the selection and training of the apprentice and assists the apprentice with placement at a sponsor company such as Tenix.

        The Benefits of Accredited Electronics Training for Tenix
        Cost Effective and Time Efficient;
No Hassles;
Improved Employee Attraction;
Improved Employee Assessment.

      

A little about Tenix Defence

Tenix Defence is Australia's largest locally owned defence and technology contractor, employing some 4000 people and earning almost A$1 billion annually. It operates in all mainland Australian states and territories, New Zealand, the South Pacific and South East Asia. Tenix is also an active partner in advanced technology ventures with US and European firms. The head office is in Sydney, Australia.

At Tenix Defence Electronics Systems Division in Technology Park, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide some of the work undertaken by engineers includes:

Electronics prototyping.
Partnership in DSTO projects.
Electronic Warfare (EW) counter measure PODS (Radar Jammers etc).
Signaling Processing equipment.
RF Processing Equipment.
Ground Surveillance Radar technology - Design, Production and Testing.
Prototyping for Tenix divisions - homeland security, mining industry.
Design, integration, production and testing of electronic Defence & commercial product.

Cost Effective and Time Efficient

GTS invoice Tenix for the time an apprentice is at work, which is economically beneficial for Tenix as GTS cover the costs for the time the apprentice is at TAFE. It is also beneficial to the apprentice as GTS cover the costs of the training and assist with course selection, enrollments etc.

The GTS also offers the apprentices involvement with the Duke of Edinburgh adventure training. It exposes apprentices to different things in life, especially when you have young apprentices with limited life experience.

GTS pay for all the training courses required to be undertaken by each apprentice group. With the assistance of GTS an apprentice has less pressure and they are able to fully apply themselves to the task at hand.

Improved Employee Attraction and Retention

Our aim will be to offer a full time apprenticeship; this will be about 3-4 years and by doing so this will encourage people to be an apprentice. The long-term benefit to Tenix is that we get a full time employee that has been molded and trained to suit the needs of the company. It also spreads the word that Tenix is the place to come on board and get other people interested.

Improved Employee Assessment

In agreeing to sponsor an apprentice through GTS it presents Tenix with the opportunity to assess potential recruits over the long term as it can be, at times, hard to find people with the right skills and attitude from an initial interview. With an apprentice under the GTS you are able to assess their capability as they develop through their apprenticeship prior to offering full time employment.

For more information about career opportunities at Tenix see the Tenix website at www.tenix.com