Shifting Gears with ShiftUp®
MITO – Te Pūkenga's secondary school micro-credential for the road transport industry, ShiftUp®, offers students in Years 11, 12 and 13 the opportunity to gain a micro-credential through a mix of eLearning theory and practical experience in the workplace. Credits are earned for NCEA as well as leading towards the next step of a traineeship in the road transport industry’s Road to Success programme.
ShiftUp covers topics including health and safety, vehicle documentation, general systems and components, driving hazards and risk reduction strategies.
Jake Terrell started working at Steve Murphy Limited when he was a 15 year old student at St Bede’s College. He was washing trucks, but his dream was to drive trucks. “I was working part-time while still at school. My manager told me about the micro-credential ShiftUp, so I spoke to my school and was able to enrol.”
Jake Terrell is now completing MITO's New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Engineering - Heavy Vehicle
Chris Murphy, Supervising Managing Director at Steve Murphy Limited, sees value in taking students on the ShiftUp journey because of the on-job training and essential learning they receive from the programme. “ShiftUp is super beneficial to students, it is a great way for them to get a first look and understanding of the industry. With us, they spend a day a fortnight out in the trucks with the rest of the time spent in the workshop and one a day week they do their theory work for the micro-credential.”
Chris prefers the students to complete ShiftUp then move onto one of MITO’s more specialist micro-credentials and then onto the New Zealand Certificate in Commercial Road Transport Skills.
“While at school ShiftUp provides the basic knowledge about what the road transport industry entails. The specialist micro-credentials and the New Zealand Certificate in Commercial Road Transport Skills helps them to understand the mechanical side. Part of the skill set of a professional driver is to understand the mechanical part of the vehicle. They go through the weight dimensions, other dimensions, fault finding and looking at things through their daily inspections. It gives them a real hands-on view of what’s expected.”
The hands-on element was one of Jake’s favourite parts of ShiftUp. “I enjoyed the practical side of the programme the most, going into the workshop and having that hands-on learning.”
Jake is continuing to work at Steve Murphy Limited. He has completed MITO’s New Zealand Certificate in Commercial Road Transport Skills (Level 3) and is currently completing MITO’s New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Engineering – Heavy Vehicle (Level 3). In addition, he has obtained his full Class 5 licence and operating a Kenworth 8 axle log unit.
The ShiftUp micro-credential is something Jake recommends. “It definitely gave me a head start in the industry. Start with ShiftUp while at school to see if the industry is for you, and then you have some skills behind you to move onto the next thing, it gives you an extra foot in the door.”
The road transport industry employs over 50,000 New Zealanders and offers several career opportunities – including driving, servicing trucks, transporting goods, warehousing distribution, logistics and administration services. The ShiftUp® Road Transport Micro-credential is a great way for secondary students to try the industry, step into employment and continue their learning journey.
