Long journey for young Tasmanians on road to dream job

FOR those new to looking for a job, the first tentative steps are enthusiastic. But if that first job proves elusive, the journeys can become marathons.

Man Maya Chhetri, 19, is hoping to gain employment. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

TASMANIA has more than 16,000 people looking for a job.

For those new to the search, the first tentative steps are enthusiastic — their resumes as bright as their dreams. But if that first job proves elusive, the journeys can become marathons.

“If I could just get my first job,” said 24-year-old Jack Osmond, who has been looking for a job for four years.

Like so many in his situation, he faces the impossible task of applying for jobs that list “experience” as a prerequisite — but, in a competitive jobs market, experience is hard to come by.

Jack Osmond, 24, has been looking for a job for four years and volunteers at Hamlet Cafe to gain experience. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

“Every job I go for is looking for experience … but just getting a job is so hard,” said Jack, from Hobart.

Jack’s situation is not due to lack of trying.

He finished Year 12 at Elizabeth College in 2010, has undertaken several TAFE courses in retail and is currently training at Hamlet Cafe in Molle St, which offers skill development and volunteer work for long-term unemployed.

“My plan is to do 200-300 hours of work at the cafe and see where that takes me.”

Jack is punctual, reliable and — above all — determined. He has spent years walking from door to door across Hobart, asking retail managers for a job.

“It’s nerve-racking, going in with your resume. But I need someone to give me a chance.”

In Tasmania the youth unemployment rate is just over 15 per cent, more than double the state’s average jobless rate of 6.2 per cent.

Father-of-five Kyle Atkinson, of Dodges Ferry, is desperate to get an apprenticeship as an electrician. Picture: KIM EISZELE

Amy Range, 17, of Mount Nelson, finished Year 11 recently and is looking for her first job. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

For those new to the jobs market, the task ahead can be daunting — but fortunately there are helping hands to guide them.

Amy Range, 17, has a range of freshly printed resumes that she has prepared through the help of the Matchbox Program — a Colony 47 initiative that helps prepare participants for job searching and interviews.

Do you have a job for a first-time job seeker? Email [e-mail] and join our campaign.

The teenager, from Mt Nelson, is ready and willing to try her hand at anything in the service sector — but dreams of working at a veterinary clinic.

“I love animals and I really enjoy interacting with people,” she said.

Ashley Norton, 18, recently moved to Tasmania from Queensland and is eager for her first job. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

The task of looking for her first fulltime job has been made a little easier by the fact Amy has had experience as a part-time receptionist at a veterinary clinic after school.

Amy finished Year 11 recently, and while she would one day like to train to become a vet nurse, she wants a break from study to gain some hands-on experience.

“I would love to get a job as a veterinary receptionist, but I would try anything: general receptionist, retail or cafe work.”

Where jobs will come from in next 5 years Mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries will provide no new jobs at all in the period up to 2020 — and some will slide backwards. But if people can adapt, there are growth areas. 1. Health care and social assistance has been the main provider of new jobs in Australia since the 1990s — but it’s getting bigger, with 250,000 new jobs to be created up to 2020. It is due to the rollout of the NDIS, the ageing population, demand for childcare and home-based care services. 2. Professionals such as lawyers, financial advisers, engineers, accountants, scientists and skilled technicians will provide 151,200 new jobs over the five years to late 2020, the second major growth area. 3. Growth in the school-aged population will increase in the coming five years, along with the low dollar appealing to foreign students. Some 121,700 new jobs in education and training will result. 4. Retail trade — particularly hardware, building supplies, clothing and personal accessories — will provide 106,000 new jobs in the coming five years. Accommodation and food services will grow to create 98,000. On the downside … Construction in the residential housing sector will grow, but not the heavy industry and civil engineering sector. Manufacturing will slump, with 45,700 jobs being lost by 2020. Half will be due to the end of the Australian car industry.

Among Tasmania’s first-time job seekers are those new to the state and even new to Australia.

When Man Maya Chhetri moved to Tasmania in 2014, having grown up in a refugee camp in Nepal, her first priority was to finish school and learn English.

Last year the 19-year-old finished Year 12 at Claremont College and she is continuing to improve her English through TAFE — but she needs work as well.

“If I get a job I will be very happy,” she said.

“I still have to continue at TAFE but I will work weekends or nights. I can work as a kitchen hand or anything like that,” she said.

For Ashley Norton, the task of looking for work has followed a recent move from Queensland.

But now that she has settled in, the 18-year-old is keen to land her first job.

“It’s been busy finding somewhere to live and get organised, but now I want to work,” said Ashley, who finished Year 11 in Queensland.

“I would do anything — but I would especially like a job in hospitality or child care.”

Ashley has begun by filling out online applications, and is eagerly waiting to hear back from two traineeships.

Dodges Ferry father-of-five, Kyle Atkinson, has spent so long looking for a job that he has been forced to become creative.

He has advertised himself on the internet, stood by roadsides with a “work wanted” sign and phoned a radio station to spruik his talents.

“Employers say they appreciate my determination and commitment, but they don’t have anything,” he said

But Kyle, 45, has a mortgage to pay, a family to feed and a desperate desire to become an electrician.

He has been persistently searching for an electrical apprenticeship since 2008.

He has even offered to work in his dream field for no payment.

“I’m willing to work for free for a week just to show that I’m worthy,” he said.

Mr Atkinson undertook further study and gained his Certificate II in electrician studies in 2008 — which is the qualification required before gaining a four-year apprenticeship. The former army artillery gunner has undertaken work as a trade assistant, and is juggling casual jobs to make ends meet.

Do you have a job for a first-time job seeker? Email [e-mail] and join our campaign.

Campaign push to give Aussie youth step up

FINDING 5000 jobs in 50 days for Australians struggling to get their first job is the aim of a new campaign by News Corp Australia.

In an open letter to Australian business in today’s Mercury, Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australia said: “Let’s provide that all important first foot in the door for the next generation. Because when you give a young person a job you give them a whole lot more than just a pay packet. You give them a start. You give them an opportunity. You give them a purpose.”

The national youth unemployment rate is more than twice that of the general workforce, at 13.2 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports.

Last month, 280,900 people aged 15 to 24 were out of work — 2700 more than in June.

In Tasmania the youth unemployment rate reaches as high as 20.5 per cent in the south east. To help connect jobseekers with work, the 5000 jobs in 50 days campaign is calling on employers to consider whether they really need an experienced worker when they hire, and instead employ an inexperienced jobseeker and give a young person a start in their career.

Youth, meanwhile, are urged to make themselves more employable, returning to finish school if need be or pursuing the best tertiary or vocational study option for them, as well as honing what employers call ‘soft’ skills — such as communication.

Originally published as Long journey for young Tasmanians on road to dream job