World Of Work
Disability careers
Looking for a more fulfilling second career? Why not put those hard earned skills to the test and maybe even learn a few new ones?
Disability Professionals Victoria (DPV) is a not-for-profit organisation whose aim is to help those with disabilities participate fully within our community. DPV are looking for individuals who have the life skills to work alongside people with disabilities and learn from the difficulties that they face.
DPV offer support, networking and development opportunities to individuals willing to share what they have learned in life, to benefit people trying to overcome disabilities. For more information on how your talents can be utilised, or how your career can progress in the disability sector, contact
Disability Professionals Victoria.
B&B careers
As we were reminded by Julie Lawless’s question last week, those of us who find ourselves unemployed at a later stage in our working lives, may find it difficult to get back into the job market but surely there must be business crying out for mature employees with a wide range of life skills?
There are thousands of Bed and Breakfast properties right across Australia,
NZ and elsewhere throughout the world and most of these businesses are small to medium enterprises, owned and operated by couples, with many of them situated in very desirable locations.
As with most small business, many of the operators have difficulty in finding the “right type” of relief managers to look after their businesses in order to take a break, resulting in people not taking breaks, or shutting down their business to enable them to do so. Neither option is ideal, not for the owners nor the business.
Relieving such operators can be challenging, fun and rewarding as well as a
welcome back to do it all again!
What would the “right type” of relief managers be you ask?
Ideally a couple with the maturity and capability of working together,
harmoniously and productively, both fit and healthy and with a track
record of being able to run a household that is clean, comfortable and a
nice place to be in. A couple who would take great pride in presenting
“their” Bed and Breakfast to paying guests in the very best condition
possible and where at least one person has had some business background managing a business would be a bonus but is not essential.
You should enjoy the company of others and enjoy a challenge and be willing
to learn some very well defined skills and procedures. We are not talking about rocket science here, nothing too complicated, but nevertheless exacting in several very important aspects of the business of accommodating and presenting breakfast to Bed and Breakfast guests.
At present, there are no existing opportunities to learn how to become the
“right type” of relief managers in order to break into the business of
relieving Bed and Breakfast owner/operators, no courses, no books, no
material at all! Neither does there seem to exist an agency or business that has Bed and Breakfast relief managers for hire.
This is about to change. If this opportunity has whetted your appetite to find out more, then visit our classified ad for details of an exciting opportunity.
Too old to work at 69?
New research conducted by Newspoll for the Citibank Retirement Index indicates contradictions in the over-55s’ attitudes to work.
Strangely, 67 percent of over-55s believe you are no longer capable of work after the age of 69 and yet 30 per cent of retirees say they are looking to work part-time. Add to this that only 5 per cent of those surveyed admitted to looking for work in the past 12 months.
Perhaps the only conclusion to draw is that misperceptions of age and working ability are held not only by those in the position of hiring older workers but by those very workers themselves. Time we all recognised the value of experience and the loyalty and reliability of the over-55 workforce? Read more now
Training opportunity
The TAP into Training (TAPiT) programme at Swinburne TAFE in Victoria assists unemployed over-45s and sole parents to find appropriate training opportunities, with a view to returning to the workforce. If you are eligible, Swinburne can help reduce the cost of the course, if not fully subsidise it.
Participants who are working less than 15 hours-a-week and who hold a health care card, can receive funding for most accredited TAFE courses – that is, the Government funded courses.
Course are offered from various campuses.The Croydon office serviced Croydon, Lilydale, Wantirna and Healesville campuses. The Prahran office services Prahran and Hawthorn campuses. For more information click here
Work where you want
Let your work take you where you want to go.
Like to find a way to see outback New South Wales? Fancy spending time on our beautiful south coast? Need some work that will take you where you want to go? If you have a degree in social work or a related are then the New South Wales Department of Community Services (DoCS) can help you on your way. Join DoCS as a temporary caseworker and let your work take you where you want to go. After an initial training period, DoCS can place suitably qualified people in short-term roles across New South Wales.
From the wide open plains of Broken Hill to the scenic shores of Port Macquarie, DoCS has positions for suitably qualified mature-age people who have experience working with children and families. Work your way across the state… or stay a while in your favourite spot. Applicants need to have a degree in Social Work or a related area, as well as good problem solving, decision making and communication skills. DoCS will provide you with full training, a competitive salary and ongoing professional development and support. Visit www.community.nsw.gov.au/careers to find out more about the short-term caseworker opportunities available. Apply now.
Background
workingconnections is the re-employment service of ARPA Over 50s Association Ltd. It is:
- Specifically for mature workseekers (45 and over)
- Not-for-profit
- Independent
- Currently self-funded
- Service-oriented &
- Predominantly Victorian-based.
It has embarked on an expansion program and now has two branch offices, one in regional Victoria and one on the outskirts of metropolitan Melbourne, and is opening a Sydney office in partnership with one of Over 50s Alliance partners.
workingconnections’ head office is at the Over 50s Association national office in Block Court, Melbourne.
The service began in 2002, as an upgraded and re-branded version of the employment service run by the Association for almost 50 years. Because of the Association’s status as a seniors’ organisation, workingconnections can genuinely and legitimately discriminate in favour of mature workseekers, and so provide a unique and much needed niche service. The importance of this is reflected by the fact many metropolitan Centrelink offices refer mature workseekers to workingconnections as their first and best option for advice and assistance.
The service’s dual aims are to connect mature workseekers with genuine opportunities to generate income, and to assist small and medium-sized enterprises find mature workseekers with the right mix of skills and experience to add value to their businesses.
Its service orientation means workingconnections staff provide a ‘human face’ and genuine advice to many disenfranchised workseekers, particularly those who are not eligible for benefits and so are unlikely to have contact with Job Network Agency staff.
workingconnections is currently not part of the Job Network, although a JPO licence application is currently under consideration. An application for a JNA contract was researched but the workingconnections Executive Committee decided against this course of action, mainly on the grounds that our clientele are predominantly self-funded workseekers. This group, which includes many who are classified as retired but want to re-enter or keep participating longer in the workforce, currently receives little assistance to get back to work. We have good relationships with many JNAs who refer people to the service in order to increase their employment opportunities.
The Not-For-Profit Job Matching ServiceAustralia’s ageing population is reshaping the labour supply, and for the first time in the country’s history the pool of available labour is shifting into the 45-plus age group. The Federal Government quotes figures indicating 85 per cent of the growth in Australia’s workforce over the next decade will be aged 45 and over (ABS).
At the same time, labour force participation rates for this group remain at the lower end of the OECD scale, and many mature workseekers still face significant, albeit hidden, age discrimination. Currently nearly 30 per cent of 50 to 64-year-olds in Australia are welfare dependent and approximately one in two in the 55 to 64 years age bracket are not in the labour market (VECCI), many not by choice. Under-employment is rife, with figures for mature people who can’t find sufficient work each week said to be greater than those who can be categorised as unemployed.
workingconnections is the first niche independent job-match service for mature workseekers in Australia.
workingconnections provides the following range of services:
For employers:
- Individual job-matching
- Advertising of positions on the Employment Board on the workingconnections website ( http://www.workingconnections.com ) Both are fee-for-service ($330 and $132 respectively).
For workseekers:
- Job-matching (Full membership)*
- Access to employers who register jobs on Employment Board (Limited membership)*
- Face-to-face advice (free to whoever wants to arrange a time with staff)
- Regular newsletters of job-opportunities (part of membership)
- Networking meetings (a free half-day of training and networking held in Over 50s office in city every few weeks)
- Résumé assessment*
*There is a small annual membership fee for both services and a one-off fee for résumé assessment. Staff are in the process of devising a profile-hosting service for the website. This will be free for workseekers, with résumés provided (with permission) to employers for a small charge. It will enable workingconnections to actively ‘reverse market’ skilled workers.
Employer Profile
workingconnections attracts businesses which fit broadly into the SME category (under 100 employees) with the majority being on the smaller side (fewer than 20).
Contact
The employment service of ARPA Over 50s Association Ltd ABN 33 785 138 023
2 nd Floor, Block Court, 290 Collins Street, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 Tel: (03) 9650 6144
Fax: (03) 9650 9344 Email:
http://www.workingconnections.com
Member Profile
According to our research, the typical workingconnections workseeker is more likely to be male, aged between 52-59, from a professional or middle management background, mostly looking for full-time employment. Women tend to have lower qualifications than the men.
The ratio of men to women who register is approximately 6:4.
Some 63% (2004 figures) of members are self-funded in their worksearch, and so are unlikely to use the support services and training available through local JobNetwork Agencies. Many (perhaps 30%) only want part-time employment, while many will accept part-time or casual work just to increase their chances of getting full-time employment. Some workseekers have officially retired, but are either bored and think work will provide the cure, or are looking to supplement and/or protect their retirement incomes.
To date, most workseekers who have joined workingconnections have come from the broader Melbourne area, not from regional Victoria. This reflects the difficulties of marketing and providing services regionally with our current staff resources. We are acutely aware, however, that the challenges of unemployment and under-employment for people in this age bracket is just as significant in country Victoria as it is within the metropolitan area and that it has a significant negative impact on community life.
In fact, we regularly receive requests for matching services from country-based workseekers which, at the moment, we simply are unable to meet.
