Assessor Case Studies

Robyn Naish

Presbyterian Support Upper South Island assessor Robyn Naish has been an assessor for Careerforce for more than five years and the results achieved by her trainees suggest she’s got the recipe for teaching bang on!

Robyn Naish admits she’s a hard taskmaster when it comes to work ethics.

“I do work my trainees hard – we go through a Careerforce resource booklet each fortnight. I present the information to the trainees one evening, then they go away and do the required work. One week later they come back to see me for assessment and verification of the work done.”

She does make the odd allowance though.

“Life events do happen and certain things that come up can’t be avoided. In those instances, I accommodate the trainees and help them go around or over the bumps. This way all the trainees can finish their course at the same time.”

Robyn currently has 14 trainees under her wing, ranging in age from 20 to 70. They support people in their own homes, in the area of household management and personal cares. The care required for these people ranges from those with high needs to those requiring very little.

She says the Careerforce qualifications are ideal for the trainees she oversees. “The learning and knowledge they receive is absolutely brilliant. It’s right on the mark for what is required out there in the workplace. The resources designed by Careerforce are always current and high quality.”

Robyn finds her role as an assessor extremely rewarding.

“Some women come in here having no other formal experiences in their lives. They are very wary about what’s required and they tell me they didn’t do well at school. By the time they are half-way through the course, the change they’ve undergone is amazing. Their self-esteem has grown, they have a new-found confidence and they really end up blossoming. It’s magic to witness the transition.”

She says the trainees are often quite surprised at what they’ve managed to achieve in such a short time.

“They are absolutely delighted with themselves! They start to believe in themselves and they know they have the ability to do whatever they put their minds to.”

Robyn says she had 16 trainees finish their Level 2 qualification in June and all of them are keen to carry on training.

“They all believe they can move on to Level 3 now. It’s such a turnaround from where they started. It’s a big step up though – they will have to work hard and be committed to achieve at this level, but most of them have the ability to do this.”

Robyn believes the Careerforce qualifications pathway is making huge in-roads in the workplace.

“One mother was so impressed with her daughter’s training, and because she works in the same sort of industry, she has now asked her workplace to offer the Careerforce training. You can’t ask for higher praise than that!”

Judy Rider

Aroha Care Centre Assessor Judy Rider’s no newcomer to the aged care industry – she’s been working in it for more than 20 years. She says the average age of people she works with in the industry is 45, but, even after 20 years, there’s plenty to learn every day.

“It’s really important in our industry to keep our minds open to learning new thing,” she says. “Even though people who work in aged care are generally older, there are new things happening all the time. We need to keep up with what’s going on in the real world, so we can apply it to our workplace.”

Judy has been an assessor for Careerforce since 2004 through her work with the Aroha Care Centre, an aged care facility. She loves her job as an assessor and says she likes to keep on top of her role.

“I’m always in touch with Careerforce to make sure I know about any changes to the individual units and qualifications.

Its website is always current, which means I’m kept up-to-date with what is going on. The website is a fantastic educational tool for me – it helps me stay one step ahead of my trainees.”

Judy says the qualifications and their requirements can appear quite daunting for some trainees when they first start their training, but she says Careerforce helps her to pass on all relevant information to her trainees in a way they can understand – and she describes the Careerforce 0800 number as a godsend!

Judy oversees eight trainees in her role as an Assessor for Careerforce. She’s put them into like-minded teams so she can adapt her teaching method to each group.

“Not everyone learns the same way and I’ve found if the trainees are working alongside like-minded people they get on well with, they learn a lot better. It’s a lot more stimulating for them too.”

Judy’s approach to learning is all about ‘making it real’. “These trainees are older and learn better when we discuss things in a group situation. I want them to be challenged and come to an understanding of the topic through open and stimulating discussion.”

Judy says the trainees’ workbooks are a self-stimulating tool.

"The trainees find the workbooks an easy-to-use and understandable educational tool. I tell my students to think of every workbook as being about a resident, so they should use that person as their case study. This makes it easier for the trainees to understand what is being asked of them because they can relate it to their everyday work life. It makes for a very positive learning environment.”

Judy finds being an assessor extremely rewarding and inspiring. “I see changes in my trainees on a daily basis. The changes in them are phenomenal from when they first start their training to when they complete it. They begin to look beyond the job and aspire to achieve more for themselves. I see them making improvements all the time and they really go forward in leaps and bounds.”