Over 45 and looking for work? Join the Career Transition Assistance program

Sharon finds ongoing employment even after a long absence from work and being a mature age worker.

After being out of work for over 12 months, Sharon felt deflated and unsure of what to do or how to find employment. With a little help, her positive attitude guides her to find ongoing employment.

Jobactive Provider TURSA referred her to ETC’s Career Transition Assistance (CTA) Program to build up her confidence, improve her Resume, and to learn new ideas on how to look for work.

“I felt that age was initially a barrier for me in gaining employment. However, I soon learned that age could be a barrier for any age group and that ultimately it shouldn’t hold me back.”

Before starting CTA:

Sharon found that her job applications were not effective – and became disheartened when she wasn’t hearing back from employers.

She worked with her CTA Trainer, Anneliese Diaz, to create a brand-new Resume and learned how to create more effective cover letters targeted towards specific jobs.

“I was surprised when I was able to use the computer freely and do things easily. This made me feel brilliant! It just boosted my confidence again,” said Sharon.

Using these new tools, she started applying for jobs – and receiving responses from employers.

Sharon felt relieved and happy when employers were starting to notice her abilities.

“It’s good to know that what we were learning in the Program was definitely making a difference!”

“It was encouraging to be part of a group, and to then see people from that group find employment. It made me happy because I felt like I was sharing in their experience,” said Sharon.

Next step – Refining interview skills:

“When you haven’t had interviews for a long time, you don’t know what to say or what not to say. So, it is important to practice, and even though it might feel silly, you learn that it’s necessary to be prepared.”

“The feedback from our Trainer was very helpful, and the next time we practised interviews, we were able to use that feedback to improve,” said Sharon.

Sharon kept applying for jobs and was offered two different interviews in the Aged Care industry.

She was overjoyed when she was offered a position – and commenced employment in the final week of the course.

“There has been a definite improvement in Sharon’s confidence – It’s wonderful to see that she has developed an appreciation for herself again and found employment,” said Anneliese.

Career Transition Assistance (CTA Program)

ETC’s Career Transition Assistance Program (CTA) is a new initiative to help mature-aged job seekers (45 and plus) build their skills and confidence to become more competitive in the job market.

At ETC we understand that adults come with real-life experiences. Therefore our focus is to empower individuals to grow and develop through our interactive and supportive career transition services.

ETC’s CTA Program includes:

• Personalised career assistance to help you prepare your resume, job applications and cover letters based on your skills, strengths and experiences
• Increase your motivation and resilience in looking for work
• A focus on digital technology such as smartphones, tablets, Apps, social media and computers to help boost your IT knowledge and skills and expand your job prospects

To participate in CTA you must be aged 45 years or over, and be registered with a jobactive provider (you don’t have to be an ETC customer – we accept referrals from other jobactive providers).

Do you need support changing careers after 45? Here’s some helpful resources and information: