Women given career second chance with jobs skills program

There was a time in Ciska White’s life when the sight of a job advertisement provoked an instant and real sense of dread.

It was 2022 and the single mother from regional New South Wales was working as a casual in local government with low confidence and a deep sense of “feeling stuck”. 

“I just used to look at jobs and think, ‘how am I ever going to get anywhere near this?’” White said. 

She even applied for lower level roles in her field and had little success. She believed her job woes were linked to taking a career break to have children.

“When I actually found jobs that I thought might interest me. I would just go: ‘How can I possibly close this gap?’” she said, referring to potential experience lost from being out of the workforce.

Despite her low ebb, she knew something had to change. One of her close friends had heard about a jobs skills program called Jobs Academy – run by FW and backed, in part, by the NSW government. 

The friend emailed White with the details. It changed everything.

“I would say that Jobs Academy was the catalyst,” White said. 

“I was on a bit of a journey so probably the catalyst was even me applying for Jobs Academy, but really Jobs Academy was the practical catalyst that completely changed my trajectory.”

White is not alone.

Brenda Woon was scrolling through her phone while nursing her newborn daughter when she stumbled across an advertisement for the Jobs Academy program.

Like White, Woon was also on a career break after welcoming a child. 

It was 2020 and Woon was on maternity leave. It was an experience in stark contrast to her time as a senior leader at a large tech firm. She knew when the time came, she’d need a different path back to the workforce.

“I had people in my extended team all over the world and I was travelling probably one week a month all over the world – whether it’s Australia, interstate or overseas. I wasn’t prepared to go back to that role,” she said.

“I think it’s important because this is my only child and I don’t want to miss out on a lot of things. I think it’s still important to spend that time with her. So I’m looking at a part-time role.”

“I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that it changed my life.”

In the years since Woon reconsidered a work life outside full-time motherhood, she noticed a surprising change to her confidence levels.

“I am very competent in the workplace, but I think when you’re out of work for two or three years –  and also, I’m a little bit older, so I don’t know if that really plays into it, or if that’s correct. I’m only starting to explore getting back into the workforce. So I hope that’s not the case,” she said. 

Sophie Scotton was living in Singapore with her husband and two newborn twin boys when the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hit. 

After the young family returned to Australia, the qualified teacher struggled with her sense of self outside her new role as a mother.

She felt “something wasn’t right”. She connected with the Gidget Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation that supports the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents. Through the foundation she learned about Jobs Academy.

“Intuitively I knew that if I was to do something for myself, I would inevitably feel better about my own struggles and my own mental health issues,” Scotton said. 

“So when I saw the Jobs Academy, I was just like: ‘My goodness’. Everything resonated with me so much.”

While each of their situations are unique to the other, the three women found the Jobs Academy program invaluable.

“I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that it changed my life,” White said.

“It just made such a huge difference to me, and it will be different for everybody.”

Woon said the program gave her renewed confidence to re-enter the workforce.

“It definitely helped with my confidence, it helped with getting my professional profile – so my CV and my LinkedIn – up to stack so that I could apply to re-enter the workforce,” she said. 

“It was very supportive, non judgmental at all. I think for me, that was the main takeaway.”

Scotton found the program humbling to know she wasn’t alone in “this post-baby job search”.

“Connecting with women who were in such similar situations, sometimes with baby’s on laps in the small group sessions, helped me to feel confident, acknowledged and accepted,” she said. 

“I started to understand what I needed to do, and how I needed to think, in order to put myself out there.” 

White said the practical knowledge she learned through the program gave her the impetus to speak up for herself at work.

“By the end of Jobs Academy, I’d done a lot of negotiation with employers and potential employers that I would not have been capable of a year before. I just wouldn’t have had the confidence, even before I’d had children. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that,” she said.

“I’d also been offered another job and negotiated quite strongly with that one as well. I ended up having two jobs by the end of Jobs Academy.”

Jobs Academy is a year-long, virtual program that equips women with the knowledge and connections to return to work and thrive. 

“The NSW Government is committed to fostering economic opportunity and boosting participation and empowerment for women and girls across the state,” NSW Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said.

“I’m very excited to announce we will be funding this program, especially on International Women’s Day where we celebrate women’s achievements. It’s also important to use this day to commit and redouble our efforts to address barriers that perpetuate gender inequality.”