Young achiever credits program

Improving her networking and communication skills during the South West Young Achievers Program was a big help to Therese Colman when she worked overseas.

The Australind resident completed the course last year and is encouraging other young people to take part.

Miss Colman said her then boss at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, Joel McGuinness, sponsored her to join the course.

"The idea in taking part was to help me work towards my personal and professional goals and the course was above my expectations," she said.

"It helped me with my networking, communication and motivational skills and it was a chance to meet small business owners from around the South West."

The course will be held at the Koombana Bay Discovery Holiday Park on March 10-13 with a number of key speakers from the South West business community.

Miss Colman said the confidence she gained from the course helped her take a leap of faith and take up a position at an entertainment company in Dubai in September, which she returned from earlier this month.

"I worked as both a performer and instructor as well as working in marketing and events," she said.

"There was a real mixture of nationalities that I worked with and the leadership and communication skills that I learnt helped me deal with those cultures."

Miss Colman said the experience of working overseas also showed her that businesses in the South West were at a high standard.

"I'm happy to stay in the South West because the opportunities we have here are as good as they are in the metropolitan area," she said.