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Getting a job: Growing your Bank Account AND You

30/12/2017

7 Comments

 
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Working with young people in the Job Services sector, Sarah Davis sees first hand the value of getting a job and the contribution young people can make to their own lives, as well as to the wider community.

I love my job. I support young people to get work.  I love seeing the transformation that occurs when they start working – some for the first time, others after some work experience through school or voluntary work. They walk a little taller, feel more confident, have a solidness about them that was always there but seems to come out more.

Learning new skills and having experiences certainly grows us as individuals. But it is more than that. When you work, you contribute. When you work you are in relationship with others and the world. Work gives us purpose, and whatever it is that we may be doing - hospitality, retail, construction or administration - that purpose is to bring ourselves to the world.

Everyone has their own expression to bring. A young woman I know is quiet as she serves coffees and the customers love the fact that she remembers their name and what they want. Another young woman is outgoing and talks openly with her customers about her dogs at home and what she did on the weekend. They love her openness and the fact that she seems interested in their life too. Another young woman I know works really well in a team and is naturally a leader of others through her respect, sense of equality and honesty.
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We all have something unique and special to bring to the world – the essence of who we are.  

Work is a great way to do this as it brings us out into relationship with the world and other people. And then there’s earning money – what a great thing that is! You can buy your own things, shape your own future and save to build independence like a car or house deposit.

Perhaps the most inspiring thing I see emerge as the young people I work with get a job, is that the fact that they ‘walk a little taller’. It is as though they feel more valued and valuable through working – and to me this comes from contributing (we are born to work!), but also from discovering things about yourself as you interact with the world through work. When challenges arise, observing how you respond to them. When you learn a new skill, appreciating that and also encouraging yourself if you are having a tough day. 

Being in life through work is great as you learn and grow, but also the world gets you and the essence that you bring. So everybody benefits.

By Sarah Davis, Youth Workshop Facilitator, Job Services
​Photography by Dean Whitling

7 Comments
Sally Green
1/1/2018 01:27:59 pm

I so agree with this article, for the younger generation and for anyone of any age to be working. I'm in my forties and love it when I am working and out in the world, learning from others and bringing myself to the world. I also have an eighteen year old and the more she works the better she feels about herself. I see her alive when she comes home from a full 10 hour shift and there is so much joy in her expression as she talks about her day and the people she connected with. Knowing that your essence is worth being seen by the world and then putting yourself out there is one of teh greatest gifts you will ever give yourself.

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Bernadette Glass
4/1/2018 06:21:20 am

I remember my first job at 15 as if it were yesterday and I am almost 60 now! I gain confidence knowing that my employer saw and felt my potential even though they did not know me. As I begin a new job this very day, this blog is delightfully timely in supporting me to just be myself and bring all of me to the new role.

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Julie Chung
4/1/2018 07:21:27 am

Coming from a solid place of knowing you have something to bring makes whatever we do so much more enjoyable, and young girls/everyone deserve to be appreciated for who they are first and supported to be their amazing selves. This should just be what we all do for each other as part of our responsibility to help grow amazing people that bring who they are to everything they do.

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Tim Robinson
4/1/2018 09:48:42 am

I agree, we are born to work and it is a joy to share ourselves with the world through work. For some, work is seen as a necessary but undesirable fact of life, a four letter word, much in our culture promotes this outlook. To spend so much of life under this misconception can be very detrimental. With the right support young people naturally discover the joy of work for themselves.

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Christina Caplice
4/1/2018 11:33:34 am

How true it is for all of us to feel the benefits or sharing ourselves in the world. I recently had the absolute honour of supporting an Industry awards night recognising and acknowledging the contribution young people were making in the hospitality industry. To feel and observe their joy in listening to what people had shared about their unique way and expression was truly inspiring. They all had their own individual magic, whether it was, as Sarah described, remembering guests name or specific likes, to supporting their own team with a warmth that helps each other through the challenges. you could feel the expansion in each of the recipients but also the gratitude and appreciation from their peers. no one won or lost that night , it was about sharing and acknowledging the joy of connection and how that impats a community.The opportuity to be part of teams and bulding relationships at work is a gift , more than we have ever really stopped to appreciate. The young people I work with have inspired me in so many ways and in fact what we really are engaging in is supporting each other to grow by working alongside each other. The work place ignites and explores relationships through many challenges, team work, appreciating one another, celebrating what we do well, fostering responsibility, confidence, inclusiveness, reflection, role modeling, acceptance and so much more.... its like an interactive course in connection.

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Stevie
4/1/2018 11:36:19 am

Having purpose in life is so important and work is such a great way to develop our sense of purpose and to experience our part of the bigger picture.

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Jenny James
5/1/2018 03:53:54 am

'We all have something unique and special to bring to the world – the essence of who we are. ' Love how you say this Sarah. The different styles of our natural qualities that we bring into all the different jobs we that do are all so needed.

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