26 August 2019

In 2018, when 19-year-old Kieran Visser-Lewis was involved in a truck crash, he never thought it would lead to a course at TAFE NSW that would change his life – and career - forever.

As a removalist, Kieran relied on the strength of his body to get him through the job each day. With a broken leg and other severe injuries, he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to return to work. As Kieren recovered from the accident, he began to reassess his career. He spied an ad for TAFE NSW and decided to go online and search for potential course offerings.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep doing this back-breaking work forever. I had always wanted a career in Finance, so I signed up for the Certificate IV in Accounting at TAFE NSW,” Kieran said.

His decision proved to be a lucrative one. Accounting is one of the fifteen occupations with the largest forecast increases in employment in the Sydney region.

The number of people working as Accountants grew very strongly over the past five years and is expected to grow over the next five years from 199,200 in 2018 to 207,200 by 2023.

“I had always wanted to work in finance, and this was the perfect stepping stone to my dream career which came to me at the perfect time.”

“My teachers at TAFE NSW were extremely knowledgeable and brought their own experience to the classroom. This meant I was always learning from real-world scenarios,” Kieran said.

Kieran studied part-time at night travelling to TAFE NSW Ultimo from the South Coast so that he could continue working.

Six months into his Certificate IV in Accounting, Kieran was able to secure a job as a bookkeeper. He has now transitioned to University where he is completing a Commerce degree majoring in Finance.

He says he is now much closer to achieving his long-term career goals with the practical skills and knowledge he gained through TAFE NSW.

With more than 1200 courses offered online, face-to-face, full time or part-time, TAFE NSW can help you study where you want when you want. To find out what courses are on offer, visit www.tafensw.com.au or phone 131 601.

Media contact: Alice Dalley, TAFE NSW Sydney Media and Communications Business Partner, mobile 0402 528 210