WHS expert Mark Maloney turned his career experience into two Advanced Diplomas through the process of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
In the following story Mark chats to us about leaving school at 16 to become an apprentice house painter, progressing to managing large corporate contracts, how a serious workplace injury became the catalyst for a big career change, and being offered $200K roles on the back of his recent qualifications!
Listen to Mark’s story on the Churchill Education Experience Podcast
Career Progression
School wasn’t for Mark. By year 10 he was ready to get out of the classroom and into the working world.
He completed a house painting apprenticeship, then started his own business. After running a very successful business through his 20s he was ready for a new challenge.
He got more involved in construction and progressively worked on big scale construction developments which led to a career in the commercial building sector.
He worked in the high rise sector, managing abseilers, swing stages, cranes, and operation hoists.
It was a large, high risk development and Mark was still only in his late 20s.
“It was very stressful,” he shared.
Despite that, he continued to do this work into his early 30s.
Until a major accident ended his construction career
“I fell off a ladder, shattering my leg in eight places and a hole through the back of my ankle.”
It was so serious that it almost became a case for amputation.
Eight operations later, around 30 pins, two steel rods and a fused ankle, he was able to keep his leg, but not his career.
“The opportunity for me to return to construction was not there. I was homebound for just over 3½ years,” he shared.
Queue career change revelation!
As you can imagine, these were dark days for Mark. He had a young family to support, was in constant pain and had lost his career and livelihood.
But the twists and turns of life have a funny way of working themselves out.
“At that point in time, sitting on the couch one day, I just thought to myself, this could have been prevented if a trained health and safety officer had been on site that day,” he reflected.
And that’s how Mark’s WHS career began!
Mark studied the Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety, then achieved his current Health & Safety Officer role which involves looking after 140-150 staff from Townsville to Newcastle.
“I look after health and safety across different divisions of the business including insurance, factory operations, site requirements and fabrication,” he said.
Why Recognition of Prior Learning?
Mark is happy where he is currently working, so why look at recognition of prior learning?
“I wanted to benchmark my skills and experience with qualifications because we never know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day,” he commented.
It’s a very important point to note. Whilst we might be happy in our current job, with our current employer, it always pays to be prepared for new opportunities, promotions or redundancy.
Came for a Diploma, left with two Advanced Diplomas!
When Mark contacted Churchill Education he was interested in checking his eligibility for a Diploma of Work Health and Safety.
He worked with Career & Education Advisor Sarah Tom, who discussed his career experience, future goals and the work examples he would need to provide.
The news he received back from Churchill’s RPL assessors was not that he was eligible for the Diploma, instead it was:
“No mate, what you’ve actually been doing is far beyond what you think you should achieve!”
Mark was eligible for BSB60619 Advanced Diploma of Work Health and Safety AND BSB60420 Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management.
Getting the recognition he deserves
Mark said he was, “taken aback” to discover the qualifications he was eligible for.
“I still can’t believe I’ve got these two Advanced Diplomas,” he shared.
“I think a lot of people underrate their skills and what they’re capable of achieving and doing, and I feel like that’s where I have been sitting for a good 12 to 24 months,” he added.
He is bang on. Most of us undervalue our skills, experience and knowledge, which is what makes gaining qualifications through RPL so powerful.
It’s so much more than just that piece of paper. It’s self-belief, self-confidence and being able to walk into an interview knowing what you can do and what you’re worth.
“To get the feedback from an assessor that sees this stuff every single day of the week to go, ‘mate, you are sitting up here’; it’s given me so much more confidence,” he said.
Queue $200K job offers!
Once Mark’s qualifications were finalised and paid for, he updated his profile on Seek Talent Search and started receiving job offers immediately, “ranging from $140,000 to $200,000,” he shared.
Mark’s Advice
“Believe in yourself, trust what you’re doing and set a goal. If you set that goal and you work hard towards it, anything’s possible.
There are no limitations. That’s one thing I have definitely learnt from dropping out in year 10 to be a house painter, to now looking after multiple multimillion dollar construction companies.”
What’s next?
“I’m always setting goals. I like to succeed, and I like to be successful.
I’m going to stay in the world of health and safety.
And I won’t stop at the Advanced Diploma.
I love the business I work for, they’re really fantastic people and a great team. But I always leave my options open as I like to succeed at the highest level of my ability.”
The sky’s the limit for Mark. We feel so privileged to work with talented Aussies, follow their career progress and help them with qualifications to match!
If you’d like to find out what qualifications match your current level of work you can apply for a free RPL appraisal here.
