Join the carecareers team and help promote careers in the disability and community care sector in NSW. We're a friendly team, based in the Sydney CBD Office of National Disability Services. Details about the Talent Officer position are below. Let us know if you have any questions. You can also read the full details and apply via carecareers.com.au.

carecareers is a dedicated jobsite for the community care and disability sector in NSW and lists in the Top 10 visited in Australia. carecareers is designed to grow the pool of labour available to not-for-profit, government and NGO providers of disability and community care services in NSW. It develops, implements and tests a number of targeted attraction strategies and uses these to help build a talent pool for service providers to tap into.

The Talent Officer will work with the Careers Centre team on the carecareers job board and recruitment services.

Key roles and responsibilities

• Ensure all client/candidate enquiries are responded to within 24 business hours in a professional and appropriate manner
• Ensure consistency in communication and a strict adherence to the style guide
• Ensure workload and productivity is not below minimum standards
• Ensure service levels are achieved and issues reported and escalated as appropriate
• Complete candidate/client care communications and reports as directed and in a timely fashion
• Provide monthly updates on stock to ensure smooth delivery of events

Key attributes

• Experience in recruitment service delivery from either a resourcing or 360 degree role
• Experience in account management
• Proven ability to advise clients on recruitment best practice advice
• Proven ability to advise clients on the best method to deliver specific recruitment needs
• HRMS (HR Management System) and intermediate MS Office experience
• Demonstrated attention to detail with excellent written English language skills
• Excellent presentation and communication skills
• Proven client building skills
• Experience in Healthcare sector/recruitment will be highly regarded
• Understanding of working within the public sector is desirable
• Technical competency - NGA
• As travel may be required, independent travel capability is essential 

Qualifications

• A tertiary qualification in a related discipline is desirable but not essential

NDS is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from people with disability.

Interested applicants should send a cover letter relating their experience to each of the Key Attributes, together with their resume, to:

Berice King
Human Resources Coordinator
Ph: 02 9256 3104
Fax: 02 9256 3123
berice.king@nds.org.au 

Closing date: 6 May 2011

Read more about administration roles or complete a Careers Quiz to see what type of job might be for you!

It’s amazing how we can relate the saying “Where there’s a will there’s a way” to disability services. As a service provider we’re always looking for ways to modify, adapt or change things to ensure we're providing the best possible service. And we are constantly asking others to do the same to promote acceptance and inclusion.

I was at the launch of International Day of People with Disability in Sydney earlier this month, where I met a number of inspiring and talented people. It’s amazing how many programs and services are out there for people with a disability, in a variety of contexts, and it was also incredible to watch a number of people perform and do things that I have had no experience in.

With so many services in the sector, there is a great potential for organisations and individuals to partner together to increase the opportunities for people with disability.

An example of this is a group my service is involved in called Sports 4 All. This group of service providers and individuals have come together to create greater opportunities for people with disability by enabling access to sporting competitions based on ability.

We’re proud to be involved in the program which covers both metropolitan and regional NSW and includes various activities for participants, such as FUTSAL (indoor soccer), softball, ten pin bowling and basketball. We’re planning more activities across a number of other regions too.

Sports 4 All focuses more on the needs and wants of individuals rather than whether they can perform at an elite level. Sports are chosen by participants and the program is a perfect example of providing opportunities, no matter what people’s abilities are - it’s all about having a go!

'Supporting young people to develop and maintain life and vocational skills, and providing school leavers with a pathway to having a valued role in community life' - now this sounded like a job with meaning. I remember reading an advertisement in the local paper with similar words and wondering if I should apply.

Having just finished university I thought to myself, would they even consider me for the position given I was just a few years older than the young people who would be entering the program? With my only experience being part time work as a support teacher in a local preschool and assisting two young children with autism to participate in a mainstream program, I convinced myself that the skills I had developed were transferable. I had nothing to lose.

A few days after the interview I received a call to say I was successful in gaining the position of a Transition to Work Mentor for Lifestyle Solutions. It was a brand new program for school leavers with disability, and I would be working with the Program Coordinator to ‘get these young people work’.

My first year in the disability sector went so quickly. I learnt welding at TAFE with a young man, shadowed as a kitchen hand at a local bistro, washed hundreds of cars at the local used car dealership alongside an avid car lover, met a young woman for lunch once a week  to support her in developing friendships with other people doing her university course, and facilitated work readiness and interviewing skills workshops with a small group of participants - and it didn’t stop there!

Twelve young people commenced in the program that year and I was the key worker for six of them. We would meet once a week to gauge where we were all at, how far we had come and whether we were heading in the right direction. This was called ‘individual planning’.

Supporting people made sense to me. I was like that person in the background whispering words of encouragement, making connections and opening doors for these young people to help them find their place, to find what they were good at and where their strengths lay.

I enjoyed my work. The not for profit organisation I was employed by had only been operating for a couple of years, the people were nice and I felt a sense of connection to them and the organisation. The following year we had more young people wanting to enter the program and I was asked to step into a leadership role, to coordinate the Transition to Work program.

I could write pages and pages about my next few years in the sector, the twists and turns, the highs and lows. Basically, those years were about supporting more people, meeting new people and chatting with them about what their dream job would be, what mattered most to them, and how my team and I could support them in getting where they wanted to be.

It’s almost 6 years on and I now lead a team who support over 200 people living with disability in New South Wales. I am a member of the Lifestyle Solutions’ National Leadership Team and I am in a position where I can help shape the future of my organisation, contribute to the development of strategies and new ways of thinking about supporting people.

Having completed an Associate Degree in Law, a Bachelor of Social Science, a Master of Human Services Management, and now working towards the completion of a Graduate Bachelor of Law, I am someone who always wants to be moving forward and taking on new challenges.

This industry has given me the opportunity to discover and develop my strengths as a leader and as a professional. With the skills, knowledge and experience I have gained so far I am well placed to continue to be an effective leader within the sector. I have chosen the human services industry as a career and I will continue to open many new doors as the opportunities arise.

I also encourage others to consider this sector as a path that can meet your career aspirations. With so many diverse roles available, there is a place for everyone. And with the industry becoming more professionalised, career prospects are widening and organisations are looking for the right people to train, mentor and lead the way for the future.

The words ‘success’ and ‘extraordinary’ have always held a common theme throughout the dreams and aspirations I have envisioned for my future. I look forward to each and every step of the way that lies ahead.   

Please make a comment! I'd encourage you to make a comment below. It would be great to hear about your career aspirations.