Norlane job seeker gains employment from Australian Government internship
A Norlane job seeker is enjoying his first employment opportunity thanks to an Australian Government internship and was congratulated by Federal Member for Corangamite Sarah Henderson today.
Jesse, 18, had never worked before when he first presented to St Laurence (now called genU) in February 2017, but was willing to make a change in his life and find employment.
Jesse completed the St Laurence Employability Skills Success program and was offered an Australian Government PaTH internship with Powercom Pacific – a national phone and internet provider in Geelong. The internship ran for four weeks ending on September 17.
Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare-Trial-Hire) allows businesses to trial an eligible young person aged 17– 24 in a work experience placement (called a PaTH internship) for between 4 and 12 weeks to find out if they are right for the role.
Trial supports employers to host internship placements by providing them with incentives when they take on a young person and, additionally, the intern is covered by insurance paid by the Government through the Department of Employment.
Following the internship, Jesse was offered full-time employment at Powercom Pacific as a Call Centre Operator and transitioned into a MatchWorks client with the recent merger of parent organisation Karingal with St Laurence.
(L-R) MatchWorks Employment Consultant Chris Fowler, Powercom Pacific Managing Director Barry Ford, MatchWorks job seeker Jesse, Sarah Henderson MP and MatchWorks jobactive Director Mark McCoy.
MatchWorks employment consultant Chris Fowler said he worked with Jesse to improve his confidence to approach employers by himself, while assisting with reverse marketing.
“I could see potential in Jesse, but he wasn’t overly motivated at first after having rejection after rejection from job applications. I gave him homework and told him to come back to me with the top 20 companies that he wanted to work for, which he sent through the following day,” Chris said.
“When an opportunity came up for an internship, Jesse didn’t blink and he was fully committed to the process. He came in to do some interview training with me prior to meeting the employer.
“I sat in on the interview to support him, however he kicked goals and impressed the employer on his own. After an office tour and meet and greet, Jesse was offered the internship and the employer’s feedback throughout the internship was really positive.”
Jesse is now three weeks into his full-time role and his employer Barry Ford is very happy with how he is fitting in.
“I am very impressed with how Jesse has grabbed this opportunity and enjoy seeing his confidence build day-by-day,” Barry said.
“Jesse continues to ask lots of questions and is not afraid to challenge ideas from other staff. Sometimes it results in him going back to his desk with his tail between his legs but it doesn’t deter him from voicing his ideas again next time, which I love.”