With little English skills and a lack of work experience in Australia, Arkan was struggling to find employment. He was also suffering from physical injuries, depression, and post-traumatic stress from a motor vehicle accident.
Arkan came to atWork Australia’s Fairfield office and meet with his Disability Employment Services Job Coach, Carine. To facilitate Arkan’s job-seeking journey, Carine hired an Arabic interpreter to help with communication.
With no clear perception of what he wanted to do, they worked together to narrow down Arkan’s skills, prior work experience and types of environment he enjoyed spending time in. They identified he wanted hands-on tasks and he enjoyed being outdoors.
“Arkan’s journey was very pleasant as he was open to most of my suggestions and happy to give almost anything a try as long as he felt he was able to do the job,” says Carine.
Arkan agreed to a work trial at a local car wash where he showed such a strong work ethic he passed the trial with flying colours. The following week he was officially asked to start work at the Bubbles Hand Car Wash & Café in Bass Hill, NSW as a Car Wash Attendant.
“We are very happy to have Arkan on our team, he’s a hard worker and extremely reliable,” says Rafi, Arkan’s employer. “He is a team player which is very important to us.”
It’s a result that pleased his Job Coach and, of course, Arkan himself.
“Arkan was over the moon. He was also very surprised as he was not hopeful that he would succeed,” says Carine.
“I couldn’t be happier with his success and it makes me value my job, even more, when I see how far we have come together throughout his employment journey.”