Rebecca's Story
The employment mentoring scheme at VCE was mentioned to me by the staff at the Collective Gallery, where I was spending six months as a Voluntary Project Assistant. I'd not heard of schemes of this type, and I was naturally quite unsure of the benefits of meeting up with a stranger to discuss my job search! I decided to try it out on the basis that if it didn't work for me there would be nothing lost.
I kept up regular meetings with my mentor for six months. While still working as a voluntary project assistant, it was great to be thinking about options beyond the end of the placement — something I would otherwise had less motivation to do. When my placement ended, I spent the majority of my time job-searching, and my mentor was invaluable in recommending new channels and resources through which I could look for vacancies. She was great at demystifying recruitment jargon and clarifying how my skills suited different posts, and was happy to run through completed applications with me, giving some final tweaks and tips.
I found the scheme great for keeping my motivation levels up — we decided to meet weekly so that I always had achievable goals, and was able to make consistent progress. This was vital in keeping me going in my search, along with the opportunity to talk to about the knock backs — to dissect and analyse, but also to let off steam and get back on track.
It was immediately after one such setback that I saw the advertisement for a job that perfectly suited my experience and skills. Without my mentor, I might not have mustered the motivation to apply for another post so soon after a rejection, but she helped me gather the enthusiasm to do so, and I was successful!
While nobody can find and secure your perfect job on your behalf, I genuinely feel that having a mentor through the Volunteer Centre made a huge difference to my success in my job search, and would definitely recommend the experience to anyone who needs some support while looking for work.