Get a job

The people at the Jobs and Skills Centre are friendly, and very understanding about what he wants to do. They listen to his concerns – Tony feels comfortable there.

At his appointment, Tony tells Rachel about his previous work experience and skills and what he’s hoping to do next. He also mentions that he was told he may need to be willing to work with different machinery and maybe even do some training to skill up for a new job.

Rachel explains all the things they can help him with, including updating his resumé, finding job opportunities and writing job applications.

Rachel shows Tony the Aboriginal services jobs board – a free online job search that lists job vacancies for Aboriginal people all across WA.

Registering on the jobs board lets Tony search for suitable jobs, upload his documents, save and view any applications he sends, and apply for jobs online. It also sends him an email whenever a new job comes up that matches what he's looking for.

Tony registers on the jobs board so he's all set up.

Once he’s got himself organised on the jobs board, Tony shows Rachel  his resumé. It’s been a while since he wrote it, so together they work on updating it. Using the computers at the Jobs and Skills Centre, and with Rachel's help, Tony is able to freshen up the layout and content of his resumé so that it looks and sounds professional and includes his most recent work experience.

Once he’s happy with it, Tony uploads his resumé to his new jobs board account so that it’s ready to be used when he goes to apply for a new job.

Download Tony's resume if you'd like to read it

The job advertisement tells Maya:

• about the job role;
• about the required qualifications and experience;
• how and when to apply; and
• what to include with her application.

After reading the advertisement carefully, Maya is confident she is well suited to the job. She downloads the employment application package, including the position description document, so she can read about the job in more detail.

The advertisement says that a cover letter must be included. So first up Maya begins by drafting her cover letter, where she plans to outline her suitability for the role.

Maya briefly introduces and then describes herself, her skills and experience and outlines why she is applying for the job. She aims to sound confident, capable and professional, but also friendly and keen.

Read Maya's cover letter

Next Maya needs to compose a written application addressing the work-related requirements of the job, as described in the position description. Noting that the written application is to be no more than two pages long, Maya knows she needs to keep her responses brief and to the point.

Maya ensures that she describes her skills that are relevant to the work-related requirements and includes examples of when when she has used those skills. She uses the STAR model to address some of the work-related requirements, which gives her an opportunity to showcase her skills and experience.

Read through Maya's written application

The last piece required for the application is a current resumé. Maya has been keeping hers up to date, so she just needs to check it and adjust any sections that particularly relate to this job opportunity.

Maya's resumé includes a career objective, which expresses her desire to work in local government and contribute to her community – a great match for the job she's applying for. It also details her work history, starting with the most recent then working back. Using dot points throughout her resumé has helped Maya keep it to two pages.

Take a look at Maya's resumé

Maya reads through all her documents and checks them against the job advertisement. She makes sure she has included everything that was asked for and that the documents are correct. She also runs a spell check through everything.

The job advert stated, ‘Year 12 standard of education is desirable’, so Maya decides to include her WACE certificate along with her application.

The ad asks applicants to apply by email or mail. Maya chooses email as it's faster and saves having to print all her documents.