Further reflections on the ABC’s Employable Me

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Ben using the experience to realise his strengths and weaknesses. He stepped up and showed his assertiveness when a man parked in the wrong place. I enjoyed seeing his pride when he was praised for his communication skills and for contributing to the team.

People with disability deserve the opportunity to figure out what they like and don’t like, and what they are good at. They need the opportunity to be exposed to all manner of work environments.

To help achieve a great match between job seekers with disability and prospective employers we need to trust in the resilience of people with disability. We need to realise that allowing them to work their way up, and gain valuable life experience in the meantime, is advantageous.

Landing the ‘dream job’ takes time after all.

I reflect on my experiences as a young man in fast food and retail. I learned a lot in these roles that helped me finally get to where I wanted to be. We all need experience to ‘get our foot in the door’ first and foremost.

Ben’s museum supervisor spoke to the importance of realistic work expectations, and the value of working your way up when she said, “Getting work in a museum is quite difficult. Generally an employee would have volunteer experience under their belt; I actually started as a volunteer.”

It’s important for us to remember that life’s journey is made in incremental steps; some big, some small, but all of which shape us and lead us to our destination.     

At EPIC we talk about joining our job seekers on their journey, and I’m incredibly proud of the great work of EPIC Assist in supporting job seekers to achieve their employment goals.

Each year we support hundreds of job seekers with disability to find and keep a job they love. We walk beside job seekers on their journey and provide them the support they need, when they need it, to make sure their reason for wanting a job is honoured.

I hope that others are getting as much out of Employable Me as I am, and the show empowers people with disability to believe finding a job and working towards their future goals is possible.