Tuesday 5 February 2013

Migrant Employment Support and Mentoring Program




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.

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