Five Wanganui youth say six weeks' military-style training has changed their lives and will help them get jobs.
The group who recently graduated the Limited Service Volunteer course officially graduated at a morning tea at the Wanganui District Council yesterday.
LSV courses are for 18- to 24-year-olds who are on benefits and are funded by the Ministry of Social Development and run by the New Zealand Defence Force.
Participants spend the six weeks in a military-style environment that includes early starts, high ropes courses and a 50km tramp.
Meanwhile, Work and Income talks to potential employers to encourage them to take on the graduates.
Wanganui mayor Annette Main said the community would be proud of the graduates.
"The council is very supportive of anything which encourages our young people in Wanganui to be able to make the changes that they want to make," Ms Main said. "It is the businesses that help the community have a future where jobs are available. Giving somebody their first job is a pretty satisfying thing to do."
Ms Main said she admired what the graduates had gone through.
"I can't imagine how hard it is to adjust to military life," she said.
The group were now looking getting into work, and some, including Tyla Harper, walked into a job soon after the course.
She works at La Strada restaurant on Victoria Ave, her first fulltime job.
The newly opened business took on about 10 staff who were previously unemployed. Manager Gioia Damosso said she was handed Tyla's Harper's CV by Work and Income.
"I was just really impressed." She said Tyla had taken to the job well and was impressed with her initiative.
Tyla said she was a different person to the one she was before the LSV course. She wouldn't have had the confidence to talk to like she needs to in the waitressing role, she said. "It's set up to break you down completely and build you back up to where you need to be."