After more than a decade out of the paid workforce to raise children and run a home, Penelope was ready to get back into the job market. She had applied for and landed an interview with Yalari, a not-for-profit educating and empowering Indigenous children from rural and remote regions.
The role of Student Support Officer was close to Penelope’s heart. It strongly aligned with her values of compassion, protecting vulnerable voices, mothering, and love of education. Yet, with the interview looming, she was unsure she had the skills required to secure the role, in particular case management experience.
Transferable skills
Together, we began to unpack Penelope’s experience and build narratives that would allow her to confidently address the key selection criteria. It soon became clear that Penelope had a wealth of experience she was discounting.
Along with managing a family of six, regularly moving around the country for her engineer husband’s work, Penelope had extensive voluntary experience. When she moved to Toowoomba, she started volunteering with Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Society (TRAMS), where she cared for children while their parents learned English. She also volunteered with the Toowoomba Make-a-Wish Foundation, first on the Wish Team and then as President of the branch, where she was responsible for capturing wishes in an area covering 80,000 square kms. At Make-a-Wish, Penelope liaised with parents and children, coordinated with the main office to approve wishes, and organised presentations for up to twenty children.
This is case management.
Practice makes perfect
So often we minimise our experience, and we need someone else, be it a friend or a career coach, to help us believe in what we have to offer. The more we externalise our experience and have it validated the more confident we get in communicating our value. And the more we practice the clearer our narratives get. This kind of preparation work is essential for good interview performance.
Landing the role
Yalari’s feedback on offering Penelope the role was that her compassion and belief in the transformative power of education shone through in the experiences she chose to share.
Penelope has now been working at Yalari for a year and half. She is creating a supportive environment for the next generation to expand their sense of what is possible. She has gone on to encourage students in their own application and interview process, be it successfully applying for a Ranger position, starting a traineeship, or imagining the future in a myriad of different ways.
Penelope is also learning from and about First Nations cultures. And she has had the privilege of being welcomed by students’ families to parts of Australia, such as Thursday Island, which she may never have otherwise had the chance to visit.
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