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Brian is in many ways a true example of what many would see as a true “Goldfielder”; a hard working man used to using his hands in the mines to make a living, a family man. For thirty years, Brian made his way in the mining industry doing long hours in different jobs; sometimes a trade assistant, or a driller’s offsider and working underground. Despite the long hours and manual work Brian still found time to enjoy his life with his family or playing darts, gardening, fishing or just socializing with friends. It was a good life and it paid well. But at around fifty years of age, Brian found that the long hours of hard work and injuries he had suffered over time exacted its toll on his body. Brian got to the point where he was unable to sit too long, lift much more than twenty kilos and was suffering adverse affects from the chemicals he had long been exposed to in the industry. He lost his job and just couldn’t get back in. Brian wanted to work. More accurately, he needed to work and missed his old life in the mines and wanted it back. He felt everything was really sliding downhill for him because he couldn’t find anything at all and became unemployed for a long time. When Brian joined Career Contact in 2003 he had got to a point in his life where he was really down on confidence and was on a Disability Support Pension. Even though Brian had accumulated many manual skills in his life, his new reality was that he would have to retrain if he wanted to move into something where he could use his mind and allow his body to take a back seat for awhile. Working through a career plan with Career Contact employment coordinators showed Brian that he needed to begin with some introductory training in computers. Computers were something he knew absolutely nothing about. Career Contact trained Brian through an introductory computer course known as FIRST CLICK. Okay with this, Brian also took on SECOND CLICK which is a little more advanced. Career Contact soon placed Brian in a new job at the Police and Citizens’ Youth Club, handling the front counter at their Rec. Centre. This was a totally new experience for Brian and so Career Contact staff supported Brian by continuing to train him on-site in the skills he would need to successfully manage the job. This included a range of office management skills such as cash handling, data entry and records management. Brian has now been working at the rec. centre for the last two years. Who says “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks”?
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