Skills tested in Bunbury

South West Restaurant Services students endured seven hours of gruelling competition at the South Regional TAFE Bunbury Campus yesterday in the final round of the WorldSkills regional competitions.

The six competitors were judged on a number of tasks, including cocktail making, table setting and lunch service.

Hospitality lecturer Johnese Mullen said the competition allowed students to “step up”.

“It gives them the opportunity to be industry relevant and the opportunity to put themselves under pressure to develop their confidence,” she said.

“Because we have had judges from outside TAFE, it is a learning curve for them as well in preparation for what happens in the real world.”

Winners from the regional competition will have the opportunity to be selected for team WA to compete in Sydney at the national competition next year.

Winners from the Australian competition have the potential to be selected for the Skillaroos team to compete at an international level.

South Regional TAFE training manager Anita Host said there had been a number of competitions in both the open and VETiS categories.

“We have had a lot of positive feedback from employers on how much the students got out of the events, especially in the trades areas as well,” she said.

“Employers do look at resumes and have a look to see if the applicant has competed, which does give them an edge when applying for positions.

“The competition teaches them to work on their feet. Things can go wrong in the competition so they always have to have a plan B and even a plan C ready to go, and that should happen in the industry also – so it does set them up well to go out there into the workplace.”

The winners of all regional competitions will be officially announced in a medal ceremony at Crown Casino on November 21.