SBAT graduate thriving in her role video

Jazmine (host):

Hey, Lateisha thanks for joining us! Before we get into it, could you tell me a little bit about your background? Like, what are you into, what school did you go to, tell me who is Lateisha?

Lateisha:

So my name is Lateisha Clayton. My cultural background is Aboriginal and Maori. I went to Bonnyrigg High School. I studied my SBAT training from year 10 till year 12, and I did my Cert in business services and I currently work at Westfield still to this day.

Jazmine:

Nice! And so you did an SBAT. Tell me a little bit about how you chose what you wanted to study.

Lateisha:

So SBAT was a traineeship that I was told by my careers adviser, and it was an opportunity to really get into the work environment quite early. And I learned my Cert II like in business services and customer engagement and everything like that. So it really like boosted me into getting a job. That was my experience for it at the beginning.

Jazmine:

And what made you decide to study business?

Lateisha:

Business services because I was interested in helping people and customer service is probably like the best way to start that off for me personally. So I thought what way to better learn than to get into training and starting customer service and that's what I loved about it the most.

Jazmine:

What was involved in Cert II business? Like what were some of the subjects that you studied?

Lateisha:

We learned how to work effectively in a work environment, safety and safety and health skills also, and making sure that we learn how to communicate with people in everyday life. So it was pretty great.

Jazmine:

So did doing the SBAT confirm your interests in the field?

Lateisha:

So SBAT help me because part-time I had to go to work, like work in an office environment. So when I did that over the time that I was in high school and going there, maybe I think it was, I believe it was once a week. It really helped boost my confidence. And then eventually they offered me a job as soon as I graduated.

Jazmine:

And what was it like juggling school, TAFE and work?

Lateisha:

So at first it was really challenging. I found it was pretty difficult to get into there because I had to study online and obviously I wasn't used to that because in school you just study face to face with a teacher and you have that ongoing support. But I had a lot of support from my careers adviser, from my friends that also did my traineeship with me and also my business services teacher. So yeah, it was good by the end of it.

Jazmine:

How did the opportunity at Westfield come about and was it your first job and what was it like? Were you nervous?

Lateisha:

It was my first job actually. I started at 16, so I was really, really nervous. And at the time I wasn't really comfortable in getting into new environments. So when they put me in that, I was definitely really, really, really shy, but by the end of it, they boosted my confidence and, I reckon, I think I'm really good at my job now.

Jazmine:

That's awesome. I love the confidence. And can you tell me a little bit about what's involved in your role there?

Lateisha:

So I work at the concierge desk, so I'm the service attendance there. And basically I help with customers, directions, taking phone calls, if anybody needs help in, or finding lost items, anything like that. I also work in the carpark too. So I do face to face contact with customers in there and letting them know like if I can help them with parking and stuff like that. So yeah, that's my job.

Jazmine:

Are you doing any further study now?

Lateisha:

I was studying community services, temporarily, before obviously the pandemic started. So I'm looking into that because I want to do something with youth work, as I said before, I do enjoy helping people and I think community work is what I want to do eventually.

Jazmine:

That's awesome. Thanks so much for the chat Lateisha.

Lateisha:

Thank you so much. I really enjoyed it.

End of transcript.