Simran's experience at the Ministry of Social Development provided her with workshops and trainings to further develop her skills and create career development opportunities.

Transcript

Kia ora, I’m Simran and I was an intern at MSD. I've always wanted to work in the public Sector. The ARG programme is an amazing opportunity to make an impact across people's lives in Aotearoa. The programme provided us with a series of workshops and detailed trainings to develop our skills. My favourite was the geospatial and data visualisation technical session. The project I was working on at MSD was about updating the ethnicity reporting practices. I undertook a literature review, conducted surveys and interviews, and collated these findings into some recommendations.

The kaupapa of this project was about ensuring that we are classifying our clients’ needs and reporting their ethnicities appropriately. Being treated as a valued member at MSD gave me confidence in my experience, skills and knowledge and made me feel like a valued member of the team. We had weekly social events which was a great way to connect with the cohort working at other ministries and learn about the mahi that they are doing. I applied for a graduate position within my internship team and I’m really thrilled that I will be continuing in a full-time position after the ARG programme finishes.