Category: Career

Access to free career help

Do you need help to find your dream career? Free appointments are now available at Corio Library, with a professional career counsellor able to help you plan a pathway to your next job. You can also get help with job application documents and job search strategies.

All you need to do is register and make a free, confidential appointment, available each Wednesday You can also attend a drop-in session to get tips on preparing a resume and information on where to search for jobs or qualifications.

Follow-up support includes online career counselling via phone or on campus at The Gordon TAFE, online workshops, and referrals to other organisations, including courses offered at community centres, TAFE and university.

Your privacy is respected, and the free service is separate from Workforce Australia providers.

The free career service is thanks to a partnership between the Gordon Skills and Jobs Centre (SJC) and Geelong Regional Libraries.

Corio Library Co-ordinator Lesley Caelli welcomed the expert service, operating onsite since late May, saying it complemented the library service and included computer and internet access in quiet spaces to prepare job applications.

To book your appointment or learn more, call the Gordon Skills and Job Centre on 5225-0700 or visit https://www.thegordon.edu.au/skills-and-jobs-centre.

Corio Library is on the corner of Cox Rd and Moa Street.

Network of help to find work

Diversitat is providing extra help for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to find work as part of a Victorian network of Community Employment Connectors. Two Diversitat workers are covering the Barwon South West Region and are among 27 state-wide.

The Victorian Government invested $3.9 million to establish the network of Community Employment Connectors in local communities across the state. The program aims to support jobseekers, particularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Community Employment Connectors provide individual support to help jobseekers navigate and connect with employment, education and training services. They support clients age 16 and over from CALD backgrounds who face barriers to employment and training pathways. The CECs are also helping adults from CALD backgrounds who face barriers to securing sustainable employment.

The program is in recognition that there could have been a number of challenges to full economic participation pre-covid, which have been compounded further by the effects of the pandemic. It focuses on delivering extra support and brokerage services that respond to the needs of CALD communities and young jobseekers.

If you or anyone you know could benefit from the services, email [email protected].

Help with skills and pathways to work

Have you been applying for job after job and hearing nothing back?

Are you underemployed and tired of asking your boss for more hours?

Perhaps you’ve always loved the idea of working in a particular job but just don’t know where to start?

Are your kids all at school next year and it’s time to think about your future?

Or perhaps your children have finished school and they need some advice about what to do next?

Maybe you just need a bit of help to dust off your old paper resume and apply for jobs in the new online world we are living in.

If you said ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then the Gordon Skills and Jobs Centre can help.

Skills and Jobs Centres provide free, confidential, independent help and advice about careers and training options for all Victorians. They help unemployed or retrenched people, women returning to work, recent migrants and refugees, apprentices and trainees – in short, anyone who is interested in talking about their future. They also have computers and free internet available.

The Gordon Skills and Jobs Centre is also home to Reconnect, a program funded by the Department of Education and Training Victoria.

Reconnect is a specialist program that works one-on-one with eligible participants. Its key objective is to support participants to identify and achieve their work and learning goals by helping to break down any barriers in their day-to-day life.

The program is available to anyone in the Greater Geelong region aged between 17 and 64 years of age who is not engaged in any training, education or employment for a period of six months or longer. It is also for people who have significant barriers in accessing and staying engaged in training, education and employment.

For more information about Reconnect and the Gordon Skills and Job Centre, call 5225-0700 or email [email protected].

Recruiting people who want to help

Corio SES is looking for local volunteers who are interested in helping others. The unit, based in Anakie Road, is recruiting community-minded volunteers who can respond to flood, storm and road emergencies.

South West Region Community Resilience Co-ordinator Jake Johnson said there are many roles a volunteer can perform in the Unit, including community education, training, administration, operational response and rescue.

He said volunteers receive accredited, recognised training as part of their role, which could include general rescue, chainsaw operations, community education or media training.

“One of the things that make SES units so great is the diversity of members,” Jake said. “You can have teachers working alongside electricians, the unemployed, retirees and university students. There really is a role for everyone at VICSES.”

For more information about volunteering, call 1300-842-737.