BLOG
Information Sharing
Worker’s Name: April Pan
Organisation/Service/Project:
Migrant Employment Support and
Mentoring Program (Metro MRC)
Telephone/Email: april.pan@metromrc.org.au
Initiative/Project
- Employment/Job
Seeking Training/Workshops:
Funded by
ClubGrants in 2012/2013, the New Migrant Employment Support and Mentoring
Program is designed to help new migrants settling in the Canterbury LGA to
overcome barriers to employment by better understanding the Australian labour
market and acquiring relevant skills. There are three key components in the
program:
- Community education
sessions on the Australian labour market
- Mentoring support for job
seekers
-
Producing and disseminating career pathway resources
As
the most important component of the program, we are now inviting job seekers
who wish to be supported by a mentor in his job hunting journey to sign up
to the proram.
Some
quick overview of the program:
- The mentoring process will
run from Feb to Jul 2013.
- Job seekers will be
matched with and received support and advice from a mentor, mostly likely from
their professional background.
- information sessions on
the Australian labour market, resume writing skills and interview skills etc
will be organised to help job seekers to improve their chance of success in job
hunting.
-
It’s a completely free service
Purpose
of mentor support:
We
acknowledged that the challenges many new migrants face in their job hunting
experience is not only the language barrier, or the lack of local qualification
and experience, but sometimes more importantly, lack of knowledge and resource.
Many things that settled migrants who have already gone through or Australians
simply take for granted, poses great obstacles for new migrants, such as but
not limited to:
-
Knowledge of the Australia job market, career pathways and prospects of certain
professions.
- Expectations/requirements
of certain jobs and whether one is able to handle some responsibilities. For
example, a childcare worker may be required to carry babies so someone with
injuries in their arms or backs may not be able to do it.
- Cultural differences
-
Industry trends and professional development opportunities
Such
lack of knowledge stops new migrants from taking the most effective approaches
in their job hunting, forces them to make uninformed decisions into a
job/career or training which may not suit their skills or circumstances,
resulting in waste of precious time and money.
The
purpose of mentor support in this program aims to provide job seekers such
knowledge and resource brought forward by their fellow migrants who have gone
through a similar challenging journey. Job seekers can expect from mentoring in
this program:
- Knowledge of
qualification, skills and experience one must obtain to enter certain
professions;
- Better informed of
expectations and careers prospects in those professions, as well as barriers in
job seeking and how to overcome them.
- Advice on a good resume
and effective interview skills and tips.
- Setting goals and be
supported on actions to achieve certain career objectives
- An increased sense of
self-worth and empowerment
-
Feel more confident to tackle challenges and make an informed decision on where
to go next on their careers choices
The
program is NOT about offering a job to mentees from mentor’s network or
resources, and there is NO guarantee of placement or volunteer opportunities
with any potential employer.
If
you fit into the below criteria, we encourage you to sign up to the program and
set yourself a good start in your job seeking journey!
-
You come from a non-English speaking background;
- Have qualification (s) or
experience (either in Australia or overseas) and are currently looking for work
or studying.
-
Commitment to remain in the role for the entire 6 months of the program
To
sign up, please send your resume to April Pan at april.pan@metromrc.org.au.
Please specify your cultural background and gender, and whether or not you’d
prefer a mentor from a similar cultural background or same gender. It’s an
one-on-one relationship after all, so we want both of you to feel the most
comfortable. Please include your current residential address as well.
We
have a limited number of mentors available and we aim to match no more than two
job seekers for one mentor. Therefore recruitment of job seekers in the program
will be on first come first serve basics, provided they all meet the criteria.
What
happens next?
- We will match you up with
a mentor. Priority matching criteria is your professional background. We may
also look at your location, cultural background and gender preference, in order
to find the most suitable mentor for you.
- You will be invited to
come in our office in Campsie for a mentee briefing session in late Feb/early
Mar. During the session we will give you detailed information on the program
and what to expect. After that we will introduce you to your mentor and you may
start discussing your mentoring plan.
-
Three information sessions on the Australian labour market, resume writing
skills and interview skills will be organised during the six months. You’re
required to attend these sessions
Please
feel free to contact April via email or on 9789 3744 or
april.pan@metromrc.org.au if you have any questions before you apply.
