Meet Brightly’s first Rea cadets

As part of our partnership with Rea, we welcomed two new cadets to Brightly in November 2022 - Jackie and Cameron. The cadetship offers Jackie and Cameron paid on-the-job training with us for 12 weeks, following their training through Rea Academy. 

For both Jackie and Cameron, a move into tech was a change from their previous career. Cameron was running his own plastering business before the pandemic forced a change, and Jackie was working in administration roles after previously pursuing her passion for performance through study.  

“This is a completely different place to where I thought I would be. I’ve always wanted to do it, but I’d never thought that it would be a career that I would get into. I knew that tech jobs are in demand right now, but even though I’m on my computer all day, I didn’t think I was really tech savvy. Now I can see that it’s about a lot more than that. It’s about people and about finding solutions to problems”, says Jackie.

Life-changing opportunities 

Jackie heard about Rea through a friend and signed up after reading how the lives of previous cadets had changed. “And now it’s my life that has changed”. 

Similarly, Cameron’s cousin had completed an earlier cohort and although Cameron had previously worked in tech support roles, he saw how Rea’s course opened career opportunities for his cousin and wanted to be able to re-enter the industry with more skills behind him. And while the technical side of the training felt familiar territory for Cameron, he said the curriculum covers so much more. 

“I really enjoyed the structure and the curriculum that they had, because they don't just teach you how to use tech and how to pass an exam, they actually teach you skills to use in the workplace. We learnt how to navigate our own emotions and the emotions and personalities of others that we encounter in the professional world. We had personal goals and took time to understand how to leverage our own strengths”, Cameron said. 

Jackie adds: “Personally, I think that was the biggest benefit from Rea. Coming into a place like Brightly, especially where they are so clear about how they treat people and the relationships they have with each other and clients - it’s so important to maintain the culture.” 

Real-world work experience

Jackie says that work experience at Brightly is giving her and Cameron options to jump into different projects so that they can eventually find an area they are most interested in. 

As a people-person, Cameron says he is happy to have landed an opportunity to support Brightly’s customers. He said initially he was reluctant to return to a support role, but the variety on offer and the chance to blend a bit of technical know-how with human interaction is his sweet spot and he’s embracing the opportunity to be across different projects. “You’re not just sitting at your desk, opening tickets and answering peoples' issues. There’s so much more that we do”. 

A head-start on skills

Jackie says coming into a smaller company has its benefits too. “It’s extra special being able to have regular meetings with management. We’re getting proper insight into what they do and what’s happening on projects. It makes us feel valued and part of the team” 

Cameron adds: “It’s very engaging. They’ve even got us working on revamping their intranet; just giving us that responsibility so early on. They can see what we’re capable of doing and trust us”. 

Our cadets are 6 weeks into their on-the-job experience and both say they already feel very much at home here! We’ll check back in with Jackie and Cameron further on in their journey and hear more about what they’ve been learning at Brightly and how Rea has set them up for success!