A fabulous February for hundreds of jobs seekers
State of Origin NSW coach Phil Gould, guest speaker at Fab Feb month, with staff at Employment Plus. (Photo supplied by Michael Dwyer).
February was a fabulous month for hundreds of job seekers who found work through a new initiative from The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus.
The organisation’s inaugural Fab Feb campaign was an outstanding success, placing more than 200 job seekers from Sydney’s west into work.
“Historically, February is one of the best months for finding people work, so we put together a campaign to capitalise on that and generate some real momentum,” says Employment Plus Regional Manager Jose Aza.
“We had a lot of referrals, a lot of people going to job interviews and coverage from local media. Everybody was talking about it and the placements started coming.
“We ended up with more than 200 placements in February, so it was a very successful month.”
Fab Feb targeted the Sydney suburbs of Surry Hills, Marrickville, Burwood, Parramatta, Baulkham Hills, Mt Druitt, Blacktown, Hornsby and Merrylands. Employment Plus centres in these areas organised events with a focus on motivating job seekers and providing practical advice.
Employers from various industries and staff from recruitment agencies volunteered their time to talk about available positions and the expectations businesses have. Sessions included networking lunches, BBQ breakfasts and morning teas.
Mr Aza says for many job seekers, finding work not only provides financial security, it restores self-confidence and a sense of self-worth. It also reduces the immense stress the job seekers and their families experience.
“State of Origin NSW coach Phil Gould came in and talked to a group of our job seekers,” says Mr Aza.
“One of them was so inspired by what Phil had to say that he went out that day and found himself a job.”
Mr Aza explains the first intention for Fab Feb was to get as many people into work as possible, but he soon realised it could also be a great team building exercise for staff.
“We used the campaign to introduce some friendly competition in the office, and everyone got onboard. Suddenly we had posters, balloons and decorations in the offices and we started to gain momentum.”
Since Employment Plus launched in 1998, it has successfully placed over half a million Australians in work. And with February’s impressive job seeking results, the Fab Feb campaign is set to become a permanent fixture on the organisation’s calendar.
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