Zac, CNW Electrical and Grill’d

Zac registered with BIZLINK Joondalup in September 2021 whilst in his last year at Wanneroo Secondary College. Zac's teacher spoke to his mother about registering with BIZLINK to help him prepare for life after school.

Zac was already engaged in work experience at CNW Electrical organised by his school, and thoroughly enjoyed working there:

"The people there were all such great people. The first thing they got me to do was teach me how to make a flat white coffee. The best part of my first day was as I was working Jono came up to me and asked me if I would like a Subway sandwich!"

Zac expressed to his BIZLINK Job Search Coordinator Luke as he was about to finish up work experience there, that he has never wanted to go back to a job more than he wanted to return to CNW. Luke negotiated with CNW for ongoing paid casual work. Zac said:

"BIZLINK staff got me to come to the office and they told me "You got the job!". It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I could not imagine working anywhere else."

Zac's role at CNW is multifaceted, including cleaning, restocking, measuring and cutting cables. He described himself as "an extra pair of hands", helping wherever needed.

Zac is now permanent part-time with CNW, something he is very proud of.

BIZLINK then assisted Zac with securing a hospitality traineeship with Grill'd. Zac wanted to develop his skills and increase his paid hours. The BIZLINK service is ongoing - we support career development and individual goals.

Zac is extremely appreciative of the support he has received from BIZLINK and his BIZLINK Support Coordinator Su:

"Support from BIZLINK has been fantastic. Su has comforted me about many things and has been a listening ear. It's been great to have someone to talk to."

Zac would love to save up some money to buy his own house. His dream is also to create stories and comics "that resemble Studio Ghibli but as fun as Marvel". He would eventually like to start an animated movie-making company that rivals Disney, that he would like to name BlueLight Studios.

Angela, Dome Midland

Angela registered with BIZLINK as an Eligible School Leaver in her final year at Cyril Jackson High School:

"Kids graduating that year got a chance to come in and BIZLINK gave a talk about their company."

Angela felt nervous about finishing school and starting work. After hearing from BIZLINK, she decided to take the opportunity to get the ball rolling with job search immediately.

At BIZLINK Midland Angela met Job Search Coordinator Julie who would visit her at school for job search meetings.

Julie matched Angela with Dome. She attended an interview and a job trial at Dome with Julie:

"I was nervous. Julie was a really good advocate for me. It was a little bit daunting but it was good to have BIZLINK there 'cus that settled my nerves a bit"

Angela secured the position at Dome following a short work trial:

"I got the job at Dome while I was still at school. School was very supportive of me starting work there."

Angela initially worked back-of-house  and has since progressed to front-of-house as her confidence on-the-job has grown. Her current role involves serving food to customers, taking down orders and operating the till.

When asked about what she enjoys the most about her job, Angela said:

"Serving customers and getting the recognition from them. When you serve people, they always respond with "thank you" which makes me feel good!"

Angela's BIZLINK Support Coordinator Karen described her as a "go-getter" and that nothing is ever too hard for her.

Angela was offered and completed a Certificate 3 in Hospitality traineeship at Dome, a rare opportunity. When asked about how BIZLINK supports have helped her, she said:

"If there is ever a problem I've always got BIZLINK to go to first, which is really good. Karen also supported me with the traineeship. Definitely also with getting the job in the first place! I was nervous about finishing school and didn't know what to expect. A lot of pressure was taken off me when I started working here."

Angela is still working out her goals and dreams for the future, and she would love to progress her career at Dome:

"Maybe in a supervisory role and upskilling further in other areas including getting better at making coffees. I have also been put on the till and bar which was really good because it's more skills that I can continue to learn and develop."

Zachary, Dome Secret Harbour

Zachary registered with BIZLINK as an Eligible School Leaver (ESL) in August 2021 from Atwell College. Having successfully completed work placement at Dome Cockburn, Zachary was very keen to find paid work in hospitality.

BIZLINK Support Coordinator Rosemarie secured Zachary  a paid position as a Dining Room Attendant at Dome Cockburn.

He soon became an extremely valued member of the team at Cockburn. Whilst there, Zachary was always well supported and mentored by his co-workers and managers alike. The customers enjoy being served by Zachary as he always has a big smile on his face. Zachary enjoys the customer service aspect of his role very much:

"Customers are friendly and nice, and always ask me how I'm doing. Especially the regular customers - they all know who I am."

Sadly, Dome Cockburn closed their doors in March 2022 due to COVID-related downturn in business and Zachary was no longer employed.

Zachary secured a position at Dome Secret Harbour. Fortunately, most staff members at Dome Cockburn were also given the opportunity to transfer stores. This was great news for Zachary who enjoys working with his team very much, and travel to Secret Harbour from Canning Vale was never a barrier.

Rosemarie assisted Zachary to get familiar with catching public transport to and from work for a few weeks, until he was confident to do this independently.

Zachary's team did not know he was transferred to Dome Secret Harbour. When he showed up to his first day, there were overwhelming screams of celebration..

Zachary's team describe him as so much fun to be around, with a great and quirky sense of humour that always puts a smile on their face. He has thrived at his current role at Dome Secret Harbour, with the cafe increasing his days from two to three days per week.

When asked about what makes him happy at work, Zachary said:

"My co-workers. They are all very nice to me all the time. Ash is a great boss. Working makes me happy."

Michael, Midland Cycles and Coles Midland

Michael met with BIZLINK staff in his final year at Cyril Jackson Senior High School. He wanted to work with pushbikes. His BIZLINK Job Search Coordinator at the time Charlie secured him a work experience placement at Midland Cycles.

Prior to starting work experience, Michael had been volunteering at his school's bike refurbishing program called Bike Rescue:

"First it was a small shed operation, then it got bigger and better. We started going to different schools and donated bikes. We went to expos as well."

After working with pushbikes for a while, Michael decided to pursue something else for work. He still maintained his volunteering commitment at the school two days per week.

BIZLINK secured Michael a paid position with Coles. Michael said:

"Coles have been really supportive of me. I received a lot of good training at the start of my job which was really good. When I first started at Coles I was shy as. I started getting more chatty with people once I started at Coles and I started making new friends…It's good working with the people I work with. Jake and I went to the pub for some food a couple of weeks ago. Laura is also my friend who works here as well..."

"BIZLINK helped me out with getting my Medicare set up with Centrelink. My current Support Coordinator Karen has been really good support as well. I can talk to her about work-related things. It really helps to know I have her to talk to."

Michael would like to continue working for Coles for as long as he possibly can.