Aaron is a former AAC job seeker with such an air of confidence about him that the AAC staff have take to affectionately calling him “Mr Goodwin”.
When you walk into Coles Express in Paraburdoo, your first thought is that the guy greeting you from behind the counter is one of the managers! Aaron is always dressed neatly, is very professional in his manner, and oh so helpful with anything you need.
Aaron’s journey with AAC has been a short one this far. He has mostly lived in the Northern Territory and South Australia. He arrived in Paraburdoo in October and attended his first appointment with AAC in early November.
Aaron can tell you that so much can happen in a few hours, days and weeks. Not wanting to wait for his next appointment, Aaron attended AAC again a few days after his first appointment. He didn’t want to sit at home waiting for things to happen. He wanted to make things happen! We caught onto his vibe and started processing payments to get all his ID sorted. Aaron provided the required vaccination certificates which made helping him to find employment so much easier.
He started working with Containers for Change in Paraburdoo on the same day. A week later he sat down and told us that he loved the job at Containers for Change, but that he really wanted more work, more hours and to keep busy all the time. So we processed online applications and took him to job interviews.
Next thing you know Aaron had a start date at Coles Express! AAC staff assisted him with uploading all of the required documents onto the Coles portal and we went shopping online for work clothes. Aaron travelled over to Tom Price to choose one of the best pushbikes at Mitre 10. We ensured that he included a helmet and a headlight as the shifts start as early as 4am.
In mid-December, Aaron started working with Coles Express, and found the computer system really daunting. He told us he wanted to give up – That was the last thing we wanted after coming such a long way!
Our Employment Engagement Officer Thandi called the assistant manager Tiana to discuss Aaron’s training. It turns out their system is a little complicated and that it was really busy during the first training session. In light of this, Thandi encouraged Aaron not to give up, and to take it one step and one day at a time. The employer slowed things down and did training during non-peak hours.
Fast forward a month later, you see the most confident “Mr. Goodwin” serve customers, like he owns the place!
Our journey hasn’t yet ended. We will continue to support Aaron in his new job. Our next step is to help him regain his license, and provide Aaron with support tailored to his needs within the first 6 months of employment. It is such a pleasure working with Mr. Goodwin and we wish him all the very best in everything he decides to do.
Aaron with his Bike