{"id":482,"date":"2023-12-13T02:58:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T02:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.1.221:8741\/?p=482"},"modified":"2025-01-22T15:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T05:12:15","slug":"wes-finds-hope-with-new-job-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/news\/wes-finds-hope-with-new-job-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Wes finds hope with new job opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barriers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was February 2023 when Wes first came to<a href=\"https:\/\/octecjobsvictoria.org.au\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/octecjobsvictoria.org.au\/\"> OCTEC Jobs Victoria <\/a>in Werribee, after being referred by a friend. He had not worked since 2015 and had significant barriers including criminal history, family issues and he was at risk of homelessness.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#00b5ad;color:#00b5ad\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wes turns his life around\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iKrZ4YGr5_s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#00b5ad;color:#00b5ad\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Approaching OCTEC<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At OCTEC, Wes met with Hilary, his Jobs Victoria Mentor, and Tony, OCTEC Workforce Development Coordinator. It turns out, Tony and Wes had met before. <br><br>\u201c<em>I recognised Tony<\/em>,\u201d Wes remembered. \u201c<em>We\u2019d worked together about ten years earlier, when he was at another agency<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite a long history of unemployment, as well as significant barriers, including not being able to drive, both Hilary and Tony knew Wes was someone willing to learn and eager to gain suitable employment. He had family responsibilities and was motivated to settle into secure employment. He had a positive attitude. He deserved to be given an opportunity. Hilary, Tony and Wes began discussing potential employer options, considering where Wes would be best suited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seeking a new opportunity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tamar Cabinets is a manufacturing business based in Braybrook. General Manager, Richard said,<em> &#8220;We really appreciate the support of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/services\/jobs-victoria\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/services\/jobs-victoria\/\">OCTEC Jobs Victoria.<\/a> Over the past few years, finding employees has been really challenging, and finding people who wanted to work, through OCTEC\u2019s resources has been really appreciated.\u201d<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#00b5ad;color:#00b5ad\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"512\" data-id=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Tamar-Cabinets-and-Wes.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Tamar-Cabinets-and-Wes.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Tamar-Cabinets-and-Wes-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Tamar-Cabinets-and-Wes-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Tamar-Cabinets-and-Wes-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"512\" data-id=\"485\" src=\"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Wes-Jobs-Victoria.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Wes-Jobs-Victoria.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Wes-Jobs-Victoria-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Wes-Jobs-Victoria-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Wes-Jobs-Victoria-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#00b5ad;color:#00b5ad\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Tony introduced Wes to Richard, and an interview was conducted. Richard, knowing the support that OCTEC provides, felt Wes would be a good match for the business. \u201c<em>Wes came across as a genuine type of person,\u201d <\/em>Richard remembered<em>. \u201cHe just needed an opportunity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tamar Cabinets team began training Wes on various tools and processes. Tony and Hilary provided post placement support. And Wes has settled well into his new role, impressing his employer.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:0px;font-size:clamp(15.747px, 0.984rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.645), 24px);\"><blockquote><p>\u201c<em>Wes has<\/em> <em>been a really good worker since we gave him the opportunity.\u201d<\/em><br>Richard Ayles, Tamar Cabinets General Manager<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re in Victoria and have been unemployed for six months or more, OCTEC Jobs Victoria can help you overcome barriers to finding work.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/octecjobsvictoria.org.au\/contact\/\">Reach out today to start your journey back to employment!<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite facing significant barriers to employment, OCTEC Jobs Victoria supported Wes\u2019 transformation to secure a rewarding position at Tamar Cabinets.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2633,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions\/2633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.octec.org.au\/gu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}