Partnership Scholarship

Partnership is a business skills development scholarship program which demonstrates our commitment to supporting CONNECT members' professional development in the absence of a sponsoring employer.

What is Partnership?

To supplement its range of career management services, Partnership has been developed as a partnership between APESMA CONNECT and its members.

Partnership is a business skills development scholarship program which shows our commitment to sponsoring our members' continuing professional development (CPD) in the absence of a sponsoring employer. The aim is to assist CONNECT members to develop a comprehensive and up-to-date portfolio of transferable skills.

Why a Scholarship program?

CONNECT chose to develop a scholarship program to demonstrate our commitment to the professional development of our contractor/consultant members.

In addition to pointing you in the direction of appropriate professional development opportunities, we want members to understand that we are prepared to actually invest in their CPD.

A recent study undertaken by the University of Tasmania's Centre for Research and Learning looked at the knowledge and skills people working in self-managing work arrangements needed to operate successfully, and concluded that the professional contingent workforce required training which was targeted at their specific business needs, was of a high quality, affordable, flexible with time commitment required, and involved learning from their professional peers. The scholarship program provides members with a cash incentive of $500 to participate in training they choose as relevant and flexible enough to meet their individual needs.

How does it operate?

The scholarship is awarded on an annual basis. The member who is awarded the scholarship will receive $500 cash to spend on skills development in their chosen area.

Who can participate?

You are eligible to enter if you are a current financial APESMA member, are registered as a CONNECT member, are operating as an independent contractor or consultant and are prepared to write a brief synopsis of the value or otherwise of the training undertaken.

How is the scholarship recipient selected?

The winner will be selected on the basis of their answer to the question contained in Parts 2 and 3 of the Application Form where applicants detail how they think their business operation would benefit from the course selected. 

When do I need to get my application in by?

The closing date is 31st March.

Endorsement by John Buchanan

The Partnership scholarship program was developed in response to a 2000 Report "It’s Not my Problem" which called for institutional mechanisms to facilitate the development of skills and investment in training.

John Buchanan, one of the co-authors of the Report, endorsed the program as follows:

I have been involved in research on the changing nature of work in society for over a decade and more recently in researching the impact of the growth of non-standard work on training and professional development. I fully support APESMA Connect's Partnership initiative – the scholarship program offers a flexible and relevant professional development opportunity for professionals involved in self-managing work arrangements.

Connect members are fortunate to have a professional association which understands that professional development is a key issue for independent contractors and consultants, and is prepared to commit to investing in building their foundation skills.