When you consider it, the workaday existence is more than a mere salary. and I think we get a stronger sense of who we are from our job, even though many would be quick to retort, ‘I am not my job!’ For me it is necessary for a healthier outlook inside and out, as it were. For me, tThe self-respect that comes from working again for me is immeasurable and working in the disability sector gives this more credence. I never take a single day for granted and I feel fortunate to be in a better place in my life at this time now than I have been in the past. I have a good friend who, like me, is transgendered and she has faced hard times and a downward career ‘path’ since transitioning ten years ago. This is the case for most transgendered folks I have known; they transition and their work/career suffers. Some manage to escape this quandary, but many don’t.

A career in the disability sector for me is still relatively new after twelve months employed by Companion Card. Initially, I worked as a volunteer doing telephone research on a casual basis for a short time and then the work stopped. I had all but forgotten being advised there may be more secure work for me with NDS in the near future and managed to get on with looking for work in other places and pondered meekly if that work would materialise.

It did and it was quite out of the blue.

Before this phase of my life, I had worked in publishing and before that teaching English in Japan. I have done countless other casual jobs in the past, working in hospitality, on farms in remote Australia, shelving books in a library and toiling under great anxiety in call centres.

My previous job was in publishing (in 2008) and that feels like an age ago now. I had a spell of two long years of not working between then and my job now and it was the hardest time of my life. Frankly, I wondered if I would ever work again and then I had this fortuitous breakthrough.

I had been looking for work for the previous year, getting interviews with no luck and was close to leaving Sydney for a more ‘sedate’ existence in coastal Queensland. I was so close to packing my car and driving north! But I did have my eye on doing some training to be a nurse, but the course was not due to start in for almost a year from then. I had been accepted into a two year nursing course with Sydney University and that was my final gambit to make a go of my life in Sydney. The course was a fast tracked nursing degree and was one year less than the usual study time.
Before this phase of my life, I had worked in publishing and before that teaching English in Japan. Oh, I have done countless other casual jobs in the past, working in hospitality, on farms in remote Australia, shelving books in a library and toiling under great anxiety in call centres.

Since NDS, my previous job was in publishing in 2008 and that feels like an age ago now. I had a spell of two long years of not working between then and my job now and it was the hardest time of my life. Frankly, I wondered if I would ever work again and then I had the fortuitous breakthrough.

If you find writing a cover letter intimidating, you are not alone. At the carecareers Careers Centre, we often speak to callers who find making the first steps very difficult.

There’s no reason to let writing a cover letter scare you away from making applications. The best advice I’ve been given is to approach a cover letter like an answer to a question: irrelevant information will not attract your employer. Always be direct and always write a new cover letter for each application – we recommend changing your resume for each new position also. Every decent application does take time.

How do I start?

At the carecareers Careers Centre, we normally recommend to callers that they need to have a current first aid certificate and a driver’s licence to start out in the disability and community care sector.

For most callers, the driver’s licence is a given, though they may have concerns about where to acquire a first aid certificate. Occasionally, we will speak to someone who doesn’t have a driver’s licence, but is experienced in related fields and presents other essential qualities.

What then?

Viv began work in disability support and mental health in 2005 at nineteen. Starting out as a Teacher’s Aide working in a school for specific purposes, Viv found work in respite care and as a Support Worker, acquiring qualifications through training provided by his employers (first aid, travel training, tube feeding, professional assault response training and so on). Developing a specialty in autism and Asperger’s syndrome, it became apparent very quickly to Viv that this was a field that he wished to remain in long term, and so in 2010 he started a degree in social work to further his career.

Viv does not drive and has never had a driver’s licence. “While many other workers are surprised that I have had a long career in respite without a licence, it has not been a real issue. I have to admit that when I interviewed for my current position I expressed an intention to gain my licence. Once I began working, the issue fell by the wayside as the shifts I worked were based around promoting our clients’ independence on public transport, or working with large groups where only one driver was required.”

Making a move into the disability and community care sector without a licence will inevitably be a challenge. “I have applied for four positions in the last four months, and while I have sufficient experience in the field, all these applications were unsuccessful as I do not have a driver’s licence,” says Viv. “To add to this, workers are required to pay for comprehensive insurance to be allowed to drive on shift. As a male under the age of thirty who works part time around commitments to university, there is not a chance I could afford such an expense. This initial expense seems a real barrier for young people looking to get into the industry, and this sector increasingly relies on young, casual, and enthusiastic workers, and it seems unrealistic to expect this segment of the workforce to have full licences and the means to pay for comprehensive insurance.”

Challenging, however, is not impossible.

Making applications without a driver’s licence will require a little bit of extra research. If you’re very new to the sector, it may be worth doing some volunteering to boost your experience before making your first application. Find out as much as you can about the role for which you are applying; the potential employer will be impressed that you’ve taken the time to read and think about the position. Answer the selection criteria thoroughly, and come up with a plan when addressing the driver’s licence criterion. Do you have plans to get your driver’s licence? Will public transport be easy and affordable for you in travelling to and from work? Indicate your plan in your cover letter in your claim against the selection criteria. Employers will want to know that you are self-reliant, flexible and reliable, make sure they know that you are.

Getting started

Many of us are drawn to the not-for-profit sector because we are looking for a more rewarding job, but moving from a corporate role to a position in the not-for-profit sector can be a big change.

For career changers this means working with a very different business model and the possible new reality of a higher staff turnover, less resources and lower wages. These kind of changes can be somewhat of a culture shock as working for a not-for-profit can involve as much hard work and as many challenges as a corporate role.

Why make the change?

There are rewards for your hard work – showing dedication in your role will help you climb the not so corporate ladder and changing sectors does not always mean changing role types.