By Luke Voogt
The Geelong Cats and a local job agency have teamed up with 23 young jobseekers to give them a unique kick start into employment.
The Cats Match program was purr-fect for Geelong fan Shannon Brown, who hopes to line up work at a Lara horse farm.
“I liked the idea of training with the Geelong players,” she said.
The 24-year-old from Leopold works as cashier, but described herself as under-employed.
“I’m looking for more hours,” she said. “It can be hard for people to get work in Geelong.”
“There are so many people in the same boat, and they’re all applying for the same jobs.”
She hoped a job at the animal farm would give her the chance to work at children’s parties and help people with a disability.
“I like working with children and animals,” she said.
Kelli Brne was also among the 23 who graduated at the inaugural program Friday.
The 26-year-old has been out of work for nearly eight months, despite 10 years’ experience in customer service.
“I’ve been absolutely flat out looking for work – I’ve applied for hundreds and hundreds of jobs,” she said.
“I’ve been to 30-plus interviews but have got nowhere.”
But Kelli said she was “100 per cent more confident” after the course.
“I have an interview tomorrow and the next day,” she said. “I’ll just have to keep trying.”
The job seekers were “supportive” and would drive each other to interviews, Kelli said.
And while Kelli is yet to find a new job, she did make a good match – of sorts:
“I met my partner on the course. He’s now working full time in a bakery. So that was a funny success story for Match Works.”
The jobseekers took on training and health and wellbeing sessions with the Cats Simonds Stadium, as well as tutorials on interview skills and presentation.
Eleven have found work while a further five were going through interviews, MatchWorks executive director Renae Lowry said.
