Nathan’s long-term goal is to become a handyman, and his current role as a paid trainee at Jigsaw is preparing him for that dream, providing opportunities for skill development that will benefit him in his future career.
Nathan is no stranger to hard work. He’s spent countless hours volunteering at various nonprofit organisations, and he’s experienced multiple industries through many stints of work experience during his schooling years.
Jigsaw is his first taste of administration and digitisation work. Three years in, and Nathan is enjoying the variation in work tasks.
“At Jigsaw, the routine is inventory, file management, and file preparation. Then we go through scanning and quality control to make sure the pages match in the right places. Then, the overhead scanner will go last. We’re currently working on the Wingecarribee Council project, so there’s a lot of scanning going on,” said Nathan.
Despite his clear aspiration to become a handyman, Nathan sees the universal value in the skills he’s developing at Jigsaw.
“My dream is to be a handyman, but in the short term, I would like to work at Bunnings. For now, working at Jigsaw is an opportunity to build skills that will help me achieve those goals,” said Nathan.
In the Academy program, trainees learn 20 transferable skills to help them in any industry they pursue. Skills like professional communication, accuracy, and accountability are valuable in all roles, and we help trainees master these so they feel comfortable when they progress to mainstream employment.
Nathan feels that these skills are already helping him and his colleagues at Jigsaw to work together efficiently.
“The most important topics of the week for me are punctuality and reliability – it’s important to come in on time. I’ve also learned about following processes and teamwork and making sure there are no mistakes – if there are, we fix them and locate any missing files,” said Nathan.
Nathan’s work at Jigsaw is a daily source of pride, and the tools he’s learned in Academy have empowered him to meet deadlines, individually and as a team. He describes the satisfaction he gets from setting and achieving his own work goals every day.
“My goal at Jigsaw is to get every folder completed by the time we finish each day, and then get everything ready for the next day. It’s important to communicate where we got up to, for whoever is working next.
“I’m proud of every order we complete and of getting all my work done before I finish at 5 p.m.,” said Nathan.
While Nathan focuses on mastering the 20 transferable skills at Jigsaw, his trainers are helping him take steps toward his shorter-term goal of securing a job at Bunnings.
Nathan and his trainers use his regular one-on-one sessions to refine his resume, practise his interview skills, and perfect his professional work attire.
“To get a job at Bunnings I need a resume and cover letter. Stephanie, [a Jigsaw trainer], is helping me in my one-on-one sessions.
“To practise interviews, we do role plays. I show up in a smart shirt and pants, not jeans, and then I answer questions about what I like to do and my work at Jigsaw.
“I did the job application for Bunnings with Steph a couple of weeks ago, and we also submitted one for Mitre 10,” said Nathan.
As Nathan continues to build on his skills and experience at Jigsaw, he remains focused on his handyman career, leveraging every lesson learned to construct a strong foundation for his future. And his trainers at Jigsaw will be right beside him, helping him every step of the way.
Update: Nathan has had an interview at Bunnings this week and is looking forward to hearing the outcome!