“I am a qualified chef by trade and worked in the Hyatt Regency hotel overseas. When I moved to Australia, I found myself still working as a chef. After a few years working in Perth, I moved into the mining industry as a chef.
I started to think about changing my career and thought that the only way to find out is to try.
At the time of enrolling at LTT to do the MSL40118 Certificate IV in Laboratory Techniques course, I noticed that the health industry was in demand due to COVID-19, so I was also thinking about getting into the health industry to help the community. I felt like it was the right time to make a change.
Going back to studying after many years out of school, I asked myself ‘can I do this?’. Luckily we had an amazing Trainer, Sahar. She is awesome. There were some parts of the course that I found hard to understand, but as we learnt in the classroom and studied at home, and practiced the calculations and chemistry, I got through it. The course structure is really good.
My favourite part of the course was actually standard deviations! When Sahar introduced standard deviations in the beginning, I didn’t understand. But after a couple of days, it became so easy. That’s why it became my favourite because I won’t forget how to do it.
Towards the end of my course, I also enrolled in the COVID-19 Collection skill set at LTT. My work placement component was close to my home and I received great feedback for my customer service skills. I had a job interview for a COVID-19 collector and I got the job! I started working casually as a collector during the last few weeks of the lab course.
At the end of my course, I had an interview with Bureau Veritas for a laboratory worker role. The role would involve tasks like crushing, milling and putting samples in bags for testing, as well as operating machinery.
I also applied for a FIFO COVID-19 Collection role. With my background working in the mines, my high level of customer service and my experience working as a COVID-19 collector, I felt like I had a great advantage and skill set! I was successful in gaining this position and plan to do this temporarily before getting a job in a laboratory.
I’m really glad I did both the lab and COVID-19 collection courses with LTT. The Trainers and staff are so supportive and welcoming. ”
Real student review: Arnel Conquilla
Arnel shares his training experience at LTT Perth.
Arnel is now working as a FIFO COVID-19 Collector.