Cairns Aviation Careers Day: Hundreds of jobs available at Cairns Airport with no training needed

Jobs galore are on offer at Cairns Airport with many sectors trying to lure new applicants. These are the roles that got people talking.

CHILDREN ready to launch into a world of flying, adults looking for a career change and teenagers finishing school were among a thousand people who showed up at the Aviation Careers Day at Cairns Airport.

Ishita Sharma, 11, of Kanimbla, has a dream of working for NASA and Sunday’s event pointed her the right direction.

“I think it’s pretty fun because I see all those helicopters there and inside it shows how it works,” she said.

“I want to go into NASA because I love space and a day like this helps me go towards that direction.”

Her mother, Poonan Sharma said the careers day was good for kids her daughter’s age, not just people finishing school.

“I think it will be helpful and see which sector of aviation she’s interested in,” she said.

Another person already set on breaking into the aviation industry is 13-year-old Lilly Judges from Cairns who has set her eyes on a career for some time.

“I’ve wanted to be a flight attendant for a really long time, it is still an option but I think I might want to do a border control job now,” she said.

Hundreds of jobs were available for people to start in just weeks, often with no previous training needed.

Skytek chief executive Alana McKenna said a lot of people from all sort of age groups came on Sunday.

Mikah Judges (seven) and Lilly Judges (13) at the Aviation Careers Day. Picture: Andreas Nicola

“People aren’t aware of what’s available so they are excited to see they can study and work in Cairns,” she said.

“We’ve been getting adults through looking for a career change not just people finishing school.”

Skytek are looking for people who want to do an apprenticeship and traineeship in engineering.

Mel Chadwick, from Cairns, went to the careers day with an intention of changing careers.

“I’ve always been interested in aviation,” she said.

“I’m at a point in my career where I want to look somewhere else and my partner is really supportive.”

Her dream is to try to become a pilot.

Aviation Australia North Queensland and Northern Territory business manager Chris Pigott said it was a good family fun day with 1500 people attending.

Mr Pigott said roles that required a short training period and had available positions were baggage handling, traffic control and check-in security.

“Every job imaginable at the airport was recruiting,” he said.

Originally published as Cairns Aviation Careers Day: Hundreds of jobs available at Cairns Airport with no training needed