A quarter of young people in the Shoalhaven are unemployed, and despite the barriers they face, many have taken it upon themselves to turn the tide, and write their own story; one with a successful conclusion.
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On Wednesday the South Coast Register met with seven young people who have been out of work, months into a new, government-funded course designed to prepare them for the workforce.
Respectively, they aspire to enter warehousing, mechanics, labouring, childcare, retail, construction, and IT industries, and collectively they are not resting on their laurels.
All seven confirmed they’re willing to move for work.
In fact, Jai Dixon plans to move to Sydney next year for work.
All seven have conceded they need a helping hand to prepare themselves for the nine to five.
Transport has been a major barrier; Jai depends on his partner for transportation.
“I don’t want to rely on her," he said.
He has been working towards attaining his driver’s license through a Red Cross program that pairs him up with a mentor.
Kieren Berkovic recently attained his license through the same program.
All seven have strongly recommended the Prepare, Trial and Hire (PaTH) program for people in the same position as them.
“I’ve learned a lot of skills that will help me find work,” Nathan Roulston said.
“Self-management skills, reliability, prioritisation.”
Jai said the course has given him a new perspective on communication.
“It’s opened us up, made us look at things differently,” he said.
“Things can get lost in translation, so we’re learning to be clear about how we communicate.”
Once their applications are approved, three of them will be volunteering at Nowra’s Homeless Hub.
Their PaTH trainer gave them a glowing review on Wednesday.
“They’re a really capable group,” she said.
“Not only that, they treat one another with an incredible amount of kindness and care.
“It’s important to have smaller groups like these, it allows us to work deeply with them, and address specific barriers.”
The young adults are in phase one of three, and look forward to forging connections with local businesses through work experience in phase two.