A Mua Ake (For The Future)
Employment Preparation

For young people

We know finding work can be a struggle. We’re here to help.

A Mua Ake is an 8-week employment preparation programme. We are here to help you discover your passions and get into work.

You’ll learn really practical things, like how to write a great CV and Cover Letter, and we spend time building interview confidence and learning about employee rights and responsibilities. We also spend time gaining work experience with local businesses, so you can enter employment feeling prepared and ready to contribute.

In some instances we can register you for other courses to help you qualify in specific things (typically practical short courses like a forklift licence for example).

Onsite we also create upskilling opportunities, and we place an emphasis on your mental and physical health and wellbeing.

This course is only available to those registered on the Jobseekers Benefit with MSD. If you’re keen, ask MSD for a referral.

For employers

Opportunities for work experience

During this 8-week course our young people seek work experience in their local communities. Can you provide an opportunity for a young person to work within your business? They’ll gaining valuable insight into the day-to-day operations and the necessary skills and knowledge required by your employees.

This can be as little as a half-day through to a whole week, entirely dependent upon you.

What is in it for you?

  • An extra hand for work that may not otherwise get done.

  • The reward of opening someone else's eyes up to why you are passionate about your industry / business.

  • The opportunity to challenge to some of your key staff to lead a young person in the workplace for the day.

  • The chance to see firsthand a young person’s work ethic and how they work with others - who knows, they could be a future employee.

Sharing your insights as an employer

As part of our classroom-based learning we are always keen to have owners and leaders of local businesses and organisations share thoughts on:

  • what you look for in good employees,

  • how you grow your people, and

  • what a great career looks like in your industry.

If you can contribute in this way then we would love to chat more. We are happy to have employers come to our classroom, or to go out and experience your workplace.

Finding the right people for you and your business

Our young people spend 8 weeks focussing on building self-awareness, self-improvement, practical upskilling and working in team structures, all of which equip them to be great team members, and provide us with great insight into each young person and how they work.

We are focussed on ensuring we achieve great matches. We want this to be a win for both our young person and for you!

The benefits of employing A Mua Ake graduates include:

  • knowing young people have been trained on work ethic and standard responsibilities of great employees,

  • industry-specific skills training - upon request we can run specific training (whether sourced in-house or from external providers) in addition to the standard 8-week programme.

  • less time spent advertising and working through recruitment processes - our young people are usually ready for an immediate start!

  • our help in navigating MSD funding that can support you in employing young people. Programmes like Flexi-wage and Mana in Mahi can involve financial support for wage payments, along with tools & equipment payments to support the young person with obtaining the right tools of the trade.

  • ongoing mentoring through our programme for up to six months. We work closely with you as the employer to ensure an understanding of how the young person is performing and what could be strengthened in the young person.

If you want to talk with us about the A Mua Ake programme, email us at: mail@springboard.org.nz