Read Britt’s story on the Jigsaw blog here. 

Transcript:

Britt

0:00
Hi, I’m Britt, I’m from Old Bar from the Mid North Coast region. I identify as a person with autism. I’ve been training with Jigsaw but now am employed with DPC. So I’ve been at DPC for a year now. Since, since I’ve been starting DPC, I learned audits, spreadsheets, reference checks, helping everyone else with their daily, everyday task with the People Culture and Talent Team. Well, I started working for Jigsaw

0:29
doing a training programme to complete these 20 competencies to go for an award wage job from like nine to five. Some of the skills that helped me from Jigsaw that came towards DPC was definitely stress management. I was definitely a very stressful person but we eventually were like, okay, I know how to calm myself down, how to make sure I can

0:54
do this work further and not be able to like, overstress about the situation at all. Accountability and making sure if I made a mistake that I can, like okay, I can look back,

1:07
be accountable for my actions. And flexibility, being able to be flexible to in any workflow that’s been pretty much thrown at me. I sat down with Michael and he asked told me about the job and I was like, that sounds like a hell of a deal. I’d love to experience something new in the public sector, no less.

1:27
So he started supporting me with my resume, interview questions beforehand, how to type out an email properly, formally.

1:37
And just preparing me for all the things for the interview. He supported me on my first two days here in the office, then ongoing phone calls, video calls,

1:50
just to make sure I’m doing well.

1:53
I work with a very lovely, supportive team, they’re all friendly and nice. They all make sure I’m safe and supported and included in everything we do. I never thought I’d work any office job, to be honest. I thought I’d be stuck being a dishwasher or working retail or hospitality for the rest of my life. I guess it gives me more self-confidence

2:16
than I ever would have. Like I wasn’t the most confident person, I was definitely like a bit more of a wallflower and never really outspoken. So being in this role, I’m being more outspoken and bit more self confident in my skills and having a great time.

Michael

2:32
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m the Senior Associate Disability and Inclusion with DPC. I’ve been working with DPC since August, my role grew out of the desire to have 5.6% of the workforce identify as disability as per the Premier’s priority. Another part of my role is to support DPC create an inclusive and safe environment. To do this, we’ll be rolling out a number of initiatives that will target disability recruitment and disability confidence across the organisation.

3:03
An example of this would be a targeted disability recruitment programme where we will identify certain roles that are suitable for people with disability and then reach out to our partners such as Jigsaw to see if they have suitable candidates. Jigsaw is a nonprofit that trains transitions and supports adults with disability into award wage employment. DPC and Jigsaw have a partnership in place with the goal to transition 20 people from Jigsaw into employment DPC by 2025. It makes me feel proud that an organisation such as DPC wants to make a difference and wants to hire people with a disability and create an inclusive and kind workplace.

3:46
I hope this programme will encourage people with a disability to achieve their goals, apply for employment, look at study, just reach their potential.

3:57
I don’t think words can describe how satisfied I’d be if we reached 5.6% , hired 20 people from Jigsaw.

4:06
To be honest, I think that’s just the start.

4:09
The desire will be to keep going, be a leader, be the best out there and be an example for the community.

About Jigsaw

Jigsaw is a social enterprise that provides an innovative pathway to open employment for people with disability. By embedding a comprehensive skill-based training program within our commercial document and data management business, Jigsaw enables people with disability to achieve their employment goals at their own pace. Jigsaw’s holistic approach starts from the very basics of core work skills and supports trainees all the way through to transition to open employment with ongoing support and coaching once they have transitioned. 

Jigsaw is located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Canberra, with Perth coming soon.