Excelior Trainee of the Year - National and State Winners

Friday, July 30, 2010

Sam Morell, 25 of Glenfield, New South Wales, has been voted the national Excelior Trainee of the Year in recognition of his outstanding performance with Telstra over the past 12 months.In addition, Sam has also been awarded the top honour as the NSW Excelior Trainee of the Year. Earlier this month, Sam was named the Trainee of the Year 2010 in the NSW State Government Awards for the South Western Sydney Region. Sam started his traineeship with Excelior in November 2008, completing a Certificate II and III in Telecommunications, and is in the process of completing Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Science degrees at the University of New South Wales. Announcing the Telstra Communications Technician’s win, Excelior Chief Executive John Watkinson said it was a tremendous honour for a trainee to have been recognised by the selection panel as the most outstanding candidate both in their State and the nation.

“Sam has obviously done an outstanding job and has exhibited all the qualities which make him stand out from the hundreds of other trainees. He has been nominated by his manager and judged against all the other nominees. This is the fifth year Excelior has run our annual Trainee of the Year awards, and it is my observation that the standards just continue to improve.

“It is a real thrill for me to see so many of our State winners are more mature workers. In many cases they are engaged in a career shift. They have found what they want to do and are prepared to knuckle down and get the qualification that will be their entrance ticket to a new phase in their lives. These winners are great examples of the Federal Government’s Traineeship program succeeding. Commenting on his win, Sam said it was a huge honour. “I’d like to thank the judges for selecting me as the both the National and NSW winner. I didn’t expect to be this fortunate, however I accept the award on behalf of my family who have been so supportive to me during my Traineeship and I’d like to thank my manager for nominating me and Telstra for the opportunity. It has been a good journey; the learning curve has been awesome and I’ve met so many great people along the way.”

Details on our State and Territory winners are also available: ACT, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, and WA.