VERTO trainee Hannah Wheeler from Maitland has been announced as Training NSW Hunter Region’s Trainee of the Year in the Financial Services category.
Hannah, who completed a Certificate III in Financial Services at The Mutual Bank in 2019, was nominated for the award by the organisation’s Chief Financial Officer Glen Pearson, and was recognised for her outstanding achievement in the vocational education and training sector.
“I felt quite humbled to be recognised, especially as I was a finalist alongside two of my colleagues, who are both exceptionally hard workers,” Hannah said.
“I am proud to have received this award as I worked hard to manage conflicting deadlines between my workload, traineeship, and university studies.”
Hannah describes herself as a driven person who knows what she wants in most aspects of life. However, she felt traditional, tertiary education pathways were not the best fit for her and instead pursued a traineeship - and hasn’t looked back.
“I am passionate about working with people, but that can translate into many different industries, so when I found out about a vacancy at The Mutual Bank the job really appealed to me,” she said.
“The traineeship allowed me to trial roles within the organisation that were completely different to the one I first started in.”
Since completing her traineeship, Hannah has moved into a full-time marketing position at The Mutual Bank, a position she hopes will help lead her to her dream position.
“In five years’ time I would like to see myself as a Human Resources professional, helping people like myself achieve their career ambitions on their learning and development journey.
“If you are unsure of what kind of career pathway you wish to take, if you are leaving school or looking for a career change, I encourage you to look into a traineeship. You get paid to study and to engage with opportunities that may not arise if you were to take a different tertiary education pathway like university.”
VERTO CEO Ron Maxwell congratulated Hannah and said she was a great example of the benefits of vocational education and training.
“Hannah’s achievements are very well deserved and demonstrate that traineeships and apprenticeships are great avenues to exciting pathways that can set you on your way to your dream career,” he said.
To find out more about VERTO’s apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities visit https://www.verto.org.au/careergate/ or phone 1300 483 786.
