Glen Innes local Daniel McLennan spent a couple of hours at D-Tech Computer Solutions on Thursday, making ethernet cables and installing software onto laptops.
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So far, so routine.
But Daniel is taking part in AccessAbility Day, a government initiative that places disabled jobseekers with employers for one day between Monday November 26, and Friday 30.
This is the second year the program has run.
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“It gives disabled people the ability to see what gainful employment is,” Joblink Plus disability services employment consultant Holly Pearce said.
"Businesses provide them with a couple of hours shadowing work, so that they can see what it's like to be employed, like everybody else."
“It’s pretty good experience,” Daniel said. “It’s my first time ever installing new programs on fresh laptops – and I didn’t know how difficult it was to do ethernet cables!”
“It’s a very diverse business,” D-Tech owner Darren Livermore said. “You go day by day to what walks in the door. There’s always something different – so whatever comes in, we’ll teach him, and we’ll show him a few little things.”
Daniel wants to find a permanent job in computing.
"I've always been into IT since I was younger," he said.
Daniel left school at the end of Year 10, and has been studying since. IT is something he's always stuck to, he said.
This is the first time Mr Livermore has worked with JobLink Plus for AccessAbility Day, but he often offers work experience to school students.
“It’s just an opportunity for a place of limited opportunity,” he said.
Daniel is one of four disabled people in the region taking part in AccessAbility Day – with two in Armidale, and one in Tenterfield.
Their disabilities can be as simple as depression or anxiety, or they might be wheelchair-bound.
“They’re normal, everyday members of society, all suffering different disabilities, all wanting to get employment,” Holly said. “They just need that help and assistance.”
She puts them forward for these activities so that local employers can see what it’s like to have a disabled person working with them, and what they bring to the company – which can be a lot more, sometimes, than the able.
“They really want to be there,” Holly said. “They’ll do anything they’re asked; they’ve got that drive to work, because they’ve had to work so hard to get their foot in the door, more than what you or I would have to.
“They really have a sense of entitlement and achievement once they get there, and they do everything they can to make it a gainful employment for both parties.”
Shadowing employees could, Holly said, lead to a permanent full-time job at the end of the week. If not, they have experience they can put on their resumes to look for employment elsewhere.
While AccessAbility Day is only once a year, Holly spends every day trying to find work for her clients.
“I have caseloads of more than 100 people from Armidale to Tenterfield, and I want all of them in employment,” she said.
“I work with them on a fortnightly basis to get them employment, and I do whatever I can five days a week to find them it.”
If employers want to give disabled people an opportunity, they can contact Holly at JobLink Plus (phone 0437 985 278).
JobLink Plus offers wage subsidies and government incentives for the business, and provides post-placement support for the first 26 weeks to make sure it’s working.