Trainer Profile 1: David Hermans
With Skills Strategies International turning 25 years old we are taking this opportunity to showcase our amazing trainers that are the lifeblood of the organization. The first trainer we are showcasing is David Hermans, the head of Skills Strategies International’s Victoria department. David operates the Victoria wing of SSI out of Allansford VIC and has had a rather difficult 2020 being hit the most by the global pandemic relative to the SSI teams here in WA. David specializes in Training and Facilitation, Business and management, Community Services and Volunteering.
David’s Trainer Journey
When talking to David I was amazed by the amount he gets done as a one man team. While living in regional Victoria near Warnambool and somehow manages to meet his time commitments to SSI while also enjoying caravanning, fishing and family time. David is a lifetime learner with decades in the education field he still finds time to complete qualifications himself. David first entered the education space working for not-for-profit organizations in management roles. This eventually turned into training job-seekers and helping them move into employment, this is where David first realized his passion for training. After some time working in this space David eventually moved into working in the disability sector and worked as a volunteer trainer for the coast guard. David attributes his passion for education to the amazing feeling you get when you get to see a learner excel. David says his favorite trainer was Geoff Grey (Auditor Trainer) who highlighted David’s favorite quality he likes to see in trainers: a very pleasant manner and the ability to engage a training group.
David joined the SSI team two years ago but has had a working relationship with the business for 18 months beforehand. David says the reason he enjoys working for SSI because of the great team environment he gets even when working from a different state. David also gets the autonomy within the business to deliver the courses that he wants from his training center. The courses David currently runs are the Training and Assessment qualifications/skill sets and Business with the potential to move into some volunteering qualifications thanks to David’s contacts and experience in this area.
The last year has not been without its challenges for David. Due to the situation in Victoria David had to quickly adopt new online training methods which David has now turned into a blended training mode which helps many of his learners who are also working full time fit training into their days. David has been seeing amazing success for his learners with this new mode of learning with additional support being easier than ever to offer by simply organizing a one-on-one zoom call.
Stay tuned for more of these awesome journeys from the rest of our training department.