Jobs on offer

By Lia Bichel
A SPRINGVALE single mother of five said she was stunned to be offered a job at the local job expo last week, after struggling for months to find employment.
Sandy Mataia, 42, said she had become discouraged after spending about five months handing out resumes and being rejected by employers.
“I used to work in a factory, but left because it wasn’t for me and I needed a change. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to get another job,” she said.
“It was definitely frustrating. I had sent out so many resumes and never got a reply.”
Last Thursday, Ms Mataia attended the Keep Australia Working Job Expo and said though she had high hopes of getting a job, she never expected to land one immediately.
“I had hoped to be offered something, but didn’t want to get my hopes up,” she said.
“When I was offered the job, I was so excited, I tried not to scream and jump around,” she said.
Partnercall Learning and Development manager Tracy Montgomery said she offered Ms Mataia a job as a customer contact operator after speaking to her in the morning.
“We never expected to hire someone on the spot, but she had a good resume and was very enthusiastic,” Ms Montgomery said.
“I spoke to her about the position and her personality came though. She was very likeable and engagable.”
Ms Mataia had her first day on the job on Monday. She will be given ongoing training and within a year, will receive her level three certificate.
“I look forward to learning new skills and making money,” Ms Mataia said.
“To be honest, I just wanted a job so bad. I was tired of waiting at home and not having much to do.”
Ms Mataia was one of more than 10,000 job seekers at the expo, Centrelink spokesman Paul Creedon said.
“It was the biggest job expo ever held,” he said.
“We estimated about 5000 people, but that number was doubled. We were delighted by how many people there were, and the quality of the people that were there.”
Mr Creedon said there were about 1200 jobs available from the 122 exhibitors. He said about 30 people were offered jobs on the day, and another 800 people were expected to have interviews with employers.
Parliamentary Secretary for Employment Jason Clare said the expo was “designed for people like Sandy.”
“The idea is pretty simple,” he said.
“We put local employers with jobs and local people looking for work in the same place- and it worked.”
Isaacs MP Mark Dreyfus said the jobs expo was important to the City of Greater Dandenong.
“Unemployment in Dandenong is 10.8 per cent, more than double the national average of 5.3 per cent,” he said.
“The actions we have taken means about 800 people who were out of work now have a job.”
Mr Clare said this was one of at least 20 Keep Australia Working Jobs Expos that would be held in region’s hardest hit by the global recession. The 12 expos held so far have attracted more than 57,000 people and created up to 4500 jobs.