Job seekers need more than job creation to be gainfully employed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That’s the opinion of Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre executive manager Michelle Whyte, who says knowledge, networks and preparedness are key for a successful placement.
The centre has launched a series of workshops, Let’s Get Ballarat Working, in conjunction with Ballarat employers to prepare job seekers for positions in hospitality, administration, retail and child and aged care.
“Jobs are great and they’re really a very important part of the puzzle but people need to be prepared,” Mrs Whyte said.
“The things that we find across the board, it doesn’t matter what age or sex or what socioeconomic area you come from, lack of confidence is a huge issue and if you’ve had lots of things go wrong in your life over and over again you’re just waiting for things to go wrong again.”
The centre’s job seeker service has placed 147 people in employment since July last year.
Currently about 20 per cent of their job seekers are under 20 and 35 per cent are aged between 35 and 50.
More than half the job seekers are female, and 37 per cent are male.
Job seeker Melissa Billings had only ever been in the one job when she came to Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre in April this year.
The 27-year-old, who was still working limited part-time hours in that same position she had held “forever and a day”, had never written a resume and didn’t know how to apply for a job.
Since April she has worked part time for the Australian Electoral Commission and Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“Having somebody to help us out, helping us prepare for interviews was really helpful and gave us more confidence that we knew what we were doing and to show our potential to our employers that we knew what was going on,” she said.
Let’s Get Working Ballarat workshops will be held in August and September at the Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre.
For more information find Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre on Facebook or call 5329 3273.