Tag Archives: Employment

I want to quit

Podcast 027: I want to quit

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I want to quit

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘I want to quit’ Aaron speaks to us about how to resign from a youth work position well. Regularly at Ultimate Youth Worker we speak with people who are ready to move on from the position they are in. It may be that they are moving on to greener pastures and with the blessing of their manager or it may be that they hate where they work and already have a foot out the door. All of these people get a conversation about how to resign well and now we will give you that information too.

In testing times people have one of two ideas about their job. They either dig in and stick it out or they throw in the towel and say ‘I want to quit’. We are currently in testing times with the corona virus spread throughout the world and we know that there are youth workers who are ready to quit. When there is an economic downturn we see people hold on to their jobs tightly. When there is an upturn we see people move on. So how do we resign well? There are three stages…

  • Prepare to resign
  • Resign
  • Act professionally in the interim

Prepare to resign

  • The process will take 6 weeks!
  • Have 6 weeks cash in the bank
  • Make sure you have the other job first
  • Assume you will be shown the door straight away
  • Prepare a transition file
  • Make a bunch of lunch appointments
  • TELL NO ONE!!!

Resign (don’t quit)

  • Don’t resign in writing
  • Do it privately and with your boss
  • Never resign in anger
  • Say nothing negative…EVER
  • Say it the right way (don’t say ‘I want to quit’
  • You don’t have to answer any questions
  • Be ready to leave immediately
  • Take your transition file with you
  • TELL NO ONE!!!

Act professionally in the interim

  • Expect a counter offer
  • Expect to become disenfranchised and ostracised
  • Expect to work hard during this period
  • You should go home on time too
  • Do not say anything during your exit interview
  • Solidify your network

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles and training that have bearing on todays podcast.

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

  • Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
  • Leave a note in the comment section below.
  • Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

  • Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help the podcast and I read each one.
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Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

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Podcast 026: Getting your first youth work job

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first youth work job

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Getting your first youth work job’ Aaron speaks with the Ex-student panel about how we can get that first youth work job. Every week we get questions at Ultimate Youth Worker about how people can transition from student to youth work employee. So we figured we would ask a bunch of former students who now have a few years in the field to give us their view. What ensues is a mad free-for-all on the ways we all entered the sector. BTW we all did it differently!

Getting your first youth work job

The days where you could get a youth work job because you had a heartbeat and loved to throw a frisbee are all but over. So now the move is to get a qualification. In Australia the Diploma in youth work is now seen across the sector as the minimum qualification, with more and more organisations wanting a degree. So you spend one to three years of your life getting qualified and now you want to move into the wonderful world of paid employment as a youth worker… but if you are like most students your course has ill prepared you for this transition.

So you ask your parents or friends or great uncle Bob and you get every bit of knowledge they have about getting a job… which is great if you want to work at your local Starbucks, Macdonalds or as an electrician. But when it comes to landing a youth work gig you are finding that they want five years experience and a string of accomplishments to even get an interview… (interview is a new word for great uncle Bob).

So how do you make the transition to paid youth worker? Well in todays podcast you will hear that you need to make the most of placements and volunteer work, Network like your life depends on it and to get a foot in the door (your dream youth work gig will come). You will also hear five different stories of how to get into the field.

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles and training that have bearing on todays podcast.

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

  • Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
  • Leave a note in the comment section below.
  • Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

  • Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help the podcast and I read each one.
  • Subscribe on iTunes.

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Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

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Youth work with a criminal record

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Criminal record and youth work

Dealing with a criminal record

Back in 2013 we wrote a post that dealt with how to approach youth work when you have a criminal record. You can read the original article here: Police records and public perception: Youth work with conviction. We had just had a number of students who had struggled to find placements due to their criminal record. These students were questioning if they had made a huge mistake. Basically they asked something like, “Aaron, will I ever be able to get a job in the sector or should I just quit now?” The unfortunate answer to this is it depends.

This week the Australian Community Workers Association wrote a post titled “Pursuing community work when you have a criminal record“. In the post, which we think is fantastic, the crew at ACWA have reiterated all the points we made almost five years ago. First, they cover what a security check reveals about you. Second, how employers will determine your suitability. Finally, how to handle your history during a job search. This article brings together some really great thoughts, particularly the final section. Being open and honest about your criminal record and what you have done to restore your community standing is a really important step. It helps employers to understand you and to make informed decisions as to your suitability for employment.

Unfortunately, there will always be people and organisations who see a criminal record and take that to mean you are unsuitable. These people and organisations will judge you without the opportunity for explanation or recourse. Don’t let this stop you. As a judge once told me, “we need youth workers who have experienced the other side and have come back from the edge”. These youth workers show that it is possible to restore community perception and make a great life for yourself.

ACWA end this very important piece by stating, “At the end of the day, we all make mistakes and deserve a chance to put our past behind us. The community services sector supports people to reach their potential and this is as true for aspiring workers as it is for clients“. We couldn’t agree more!!!

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

More Posts - Website

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Youth work students becoming youth work staff

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The future of a youth work student.

Last week was youth work week. A time for us to reflect as a profession on how awesome we are and how we change the lives of young people. I think we did it pretty well this year… But I hope next year we do it bigger and louder. But enough about how awesome we are now. I was reflecting today that we are coming to the end of another year and that soon in Australia there will be close to 1000 youth work students graduating a Certificate IV, Diploma or Degree in youth work. November see the end of most courses and with it a vast array of new talent added to the pool.

As staff in the field we need to embrace these newbies with arms outstretched and hearts wide open. The likelihood is that half of them will not last a year because of the trauma, lack of support and meagre pay conditions. The sad fact is that we are losing such talent and passion because of things which can be managed and fixed. We know why people leave the sector. It has been documented extensively, spoken about at conferences and plans have been made… we just haven’t done anything to address it.

consulting-1

With this in mind here are our top 5 ways you can support a youth work student to succeed as a youth worker in your agency:

  1. Get to know them. This seems pretty straight forward for most of us, but it is the number one reason we hear over and over again in supervision sessions for conflict in the workplace. Managers, get to know your staff on a personal level as well as professionally. Find out what makes them tick, about their family and their aspirations for the future. If you are a colleague, invite them out for a drink, have peer supervision sessions, mentor them, perhaps you could even take them under your wing and support them for the first month or two.
  2. Give them a good orientation. There is no amount of leg work you can do later in their work than to give them a good orientation. Make sure they understand their role, other peoples roles, where the bathrooms are, the best place for coffee, how to work the photocopier, emergency procedures, the person to call if they lose their keys… everything you can think of. Make sure they take notes too. Its a pain in the butt and a massive amount of knowledge to take on board, but it will save you heaps in the long run.
  3. Allow them time to ask questions. Im sure you can remember starting a new job, I know I can. I had heaps of questions and they came in fits and spurts. Sometimes one question a day, other times one question a minute. Allow space in your schedule and the teams schedule for this to happen.
  4. Recognise limitations. We all want someone who can start a role on the run. The fact is even the best staff member will need to start slowly. recognise that they will not know how to do the job in the way your organisation wants it done straight away. They will not know how to use your systems, your resources or your language. This comes with time and support. Give them this. Remember they are new.
  5. Celebrate the newbie. Have a bit of a party at the end of the week. Make a fuss over them to the team and the wider organisation. Write a bit in the staff newsletter. Congratulate them for lasting the distance through interviews, checks and their first day. Make sure everyone knows their name!

This holds true for those new graduates that will be starting in your organisation soon. However, it also holds true for any new hire. Provide them with support, care and encouragement from the start and you will have amazing workers supporting your young people.

Leave a comment below if you can think of any other ways to support new youth work student graduates.

Aaron Garth

Aaron Garth is the Executive Director of Ultimate Youth Worker. Aaron has worked as a youth worker in a number of settings including local church, street drug and alcohol outreach, family services, residential care, local government and youth homelessness since 2003. Aaron is a regular speaker at camps, retreats, & youth work training events and is a dedicated to seeing a more professional youth sector in Australia. Aaron is a graduate of RMIT University and an alumnus of their youth work program. He lives in Melbourne with his wife Jennifer & their daughters Hope, Zoe, Esther, Niamh and son Ezra.

More Posts - Website

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