Organisation: Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Victoria
Job Title: Information Officer
Word Limit: 2000 characters per KSC
Location: Melbourne
Contributes to strategic thinking
Describe a situation that demonstrates your ability to explain a process to a client in order to further their understanding of a particular issue and make an informed decision.
While a student at RMIT I was asked to review the Worldvision website and assess its accessibility to people from non-English speaking backgrounds in relation to volunteerism. In this case, Worldvision was my client and I was working with them to further their understanding of how their website appeared to newly arrived immigrants. They needed to understand the accessibility issues these people faced when they visited the site, and to see what changes they needed to make to ensure the site was useable for people from different cultural and language backgrounds. They also wanted to ensure that they were correctly targeting their audience and that the site was successfully promoting the benefits of being a volunteer for Worldvision.
Another way to consider my role was as an advocate of people from non-English speaking backgrounds. I was working to ensure that they could easily access the Worldvision website and then make an informed decision about whether they wanted to support the charity through volunteering.
I undertook a comparative study of a number of not-for-profit organisations’ websites with dedicated volunteer pages. I then developed a detailed report for Worldvision, outlining my findings and making a number of recommendations. Some of these were that:
- Worldvision needed to have a dedicated page on volunteering that listed the different types of volunteer roles available, as well as its importance. This page should include stories, images and video testimonies of people from various backgrounds whose lives had been changed socially, emotionally and spiritually after doing voluntary work
- The pages should incorporate drop down language boxes to enable people browsing the site to access it in their own language
- The site needed more images and videos explaining the work that volunteers do, and less pie charts and pages of text information
- The site needed to outline the vast scope of volunteerism to highlight its possible link to developing the skills and enhancing the future career prospects of volunteers.
Worldvision were very interested in the report and a number of the recommendations were later implemented.
Achieves Results
Tell us about a time when you had to adapt to new technology that changed aspects of the way you did your work or undertook a task.
Before I commenced employment with the ANZ Bank in 2007 I had little experience with electronic file and customer management systems. Organisations that I had worked with previously still tended to utilise paper based record keeping and filing systems.
My role with the ANZ bank was as a Customer Connect Officer. I was trained to work with bank clients suffering financial hardship, assisting them to find a repayment plan that allowed them to recover from their current financial circumstances. I was suddenly required to learn to operate in a nearly paper free environment. I had to very quickly pick up how to access and utilise the electronic customer management and filings systems. Not only did I need to do this to understand the past history of the clients I was helping, but I also needed this understanding in order to generate the correspondence required to assist them further.
I also needed to quickly comprehend all the levels of electronic security assigned to different people within the team in order to do my job effectively. A further challenge I encountered was moving to a much more technology based communication system. Issues relating to particular customers were either moved through the system via the customer management system or via email (Microsoft Outlook). I was certainly much more familiar with a more face to face approach to communication.
I became conversant with all these aspects of electronic file management in a short period of time. I came to appreciate how useful it could be in keeping a detailed history of clients and what had been done to assist them. It meant information could be shared in such a way that benefited the customer and allowed the bank to provide them with a better, more supportive service.
It is also relevant that before immigrating to Australia I had never used a computer. Within a few years I gained an excellent understanding of PCs and the use of the internet as a research tool. This is demonstrated by the fact that while at University I was able to undertake a complex research project for Worldvision into the comparative effectiveness of different websites in relation to volunteering.
Supports Productive Working Relationships
Describe a situation that demonstrates your ability to establish rapport with clients and to identify and act on clients’ needs.
The best example I can provide with regard to this criterion is in relation to my current role as a Residential Support Worker for Anglicare in Victoria. It is my role to support and assist unaccompanied minors in community detention. As a Residential Support Worker I assist these children and young adults (specifically young asylum seekers) in a residential environment.
I am required to provide these young people with the skills and knowledge they need to be “life ready”; that is, fully independent and ready to move into society at 18 years of age. Of course this is a challenge for any young person, let alone ones from completely different cultural backgrounds, who have often experienced traumatic events during their short lives.
Some of the things I help them with include educational matters, driving licence requirements, medical issues, legal requirements, money management and establishing credit, employment and career planning.
My entire role is working with, and building productive relationships and rapport with, these young people in order to prepare them for life when they turn 18. I try to anticipate their needs and then work with them to meet them. Because of my many volunteer roles over the years, in particular my work as a facilitator for the Dandenong Council’s Cultural Seminars, I have an excellent knowledge of the many facets of day to day life that will impact on these youths. I have found that I need to earn their trust and respect so that I can in turn ensure they are prepared for all of these elements of our complex society.
I also need to be aware of their physical, emotional and psychological health and wellbeing. Part of my role is to monitor this, asses it regularly and report back to the relevant Department of Immigration and Citizenship Case Worker on the wellbeing of my clients. I am also required to regularly liaise with staff from the Red Cross regarding the status of my clients.
I pride myself on having developed excellent, productive relationships with staff from the Red Cross, Department of Immigration and Citizenship and other relevant community organisations, as well as with the young people themselves. I believe we work together as a team to ensure that these minors have well developed life skills by the time they are 18
Displays Personal Drive and integrity
Provide an example of a time when you have received feedback on your performance that you thought was wrong, unfair or not particularly helpful.
When I first arrived in Australia from Afghanistan I was only granted a visa to stay 13 months. Many of my country men who I arrived with were facing a similar short stay. They all focused on gaining employment as quickly as possible and saving what money they could before they returned. I always have had a goal to continue my education. In Afghanistan it had been my dream to study Literature in Russia. I applied several times, but the volatile social circumstances did not allow this to happen. So, when presented with the opportunity in Australia, my choice was to complete my secondary education.
I was frequently told that this was the wrong decision to make and that I should focus on working and making money while I could. This negative feedback was not just on my performance, but on my life choices! Based on the concerns of others, I did review my choice but in the end I decided that my continuing education was a long term investment in my future.
During the 13 month period the policies regarding refugees changed, and 13 years later I am still in Australia. My continuing education continued to be my focus and after completing my secondary education, I was committed to undertaking tertiary studies. When I found I was not eligible for any assistance I was not deterred. I applied for a scholarship with RMIT and was successful. Over 150 applications were received for only a small number of positions. Being granted this award was a significant achievement. I completed my degree in 2006.
Even though the feedback I was given when I first chose to continue my education was negative, I was able to reflect on the situation and decide that, based on my strengths, this was the best way forward.
Communicates with influence
Tell us about a time when you had to match your communication style to suit an audience.
The Dandenong Council funds an annual seminar that provides extensive information to newly arrived immigrants and refugees about living and working in Australia. The topics covered include legal rights, education, road rules and traffic, banking and finances, drug and alcohol and family laws. When I provide information about these subjects I keep the messages clear and simple. I focus on the type of information that I know from long experience is most critical and useful to my audience. I respect them, listen to them carefully and make sure I tailor my message to fit their needs.
I also work with the Dandenong Police, providing information both to them, about culturally sensitive issues such as domestic violence, and to immigrants, about the role of the Police in Australia.
Another relevant example relates to my previous role at the Fitzroy Learning Network. The Network is a lead agency in supporting Temporary Protection Visa holders released from Immigration Detention Centres. They provide education, English language skills, job interview skills, computer skills and basic life skills. I was required to assist newly arrived asylum seekers with a variety of resettlement issues. I liaised with professionals from the finance, legal and education industries to provide information on these topics. I personally provided information and support in relation to acquiring a driver’s licence, attending medical, Centrelink and legal appointments, preparing resumes, contacting job agencies, interpreting and translating, health education and promotion programs. To summarise, I interviewed clients individually, in families or in groups and assessed their situations, capabilities and issues. I then determined what services were required to meet their needs or what skills they needed to develop to deal with any issues or needs.
One final example occurred when I was undertaking work for the the Brotherhood of St Laurence. The Brotherhood is a non-government, community-based organisation concerned with social justice. I represented the Brotherhood at a meeting with many of the senior management team of the ANZ bank. I was advocating on the behalf of highly qualified immigrants, arguing for the implementation of a 3 month work experience program at the bank. I successfully convinced the bank of this and the program was implemented.
Demonstrates professional/technical proficiency
Describe a situation in which you recognised the need to improve your understanding of a particular organisational policy or process.
The work that I undertook with the ANZ Bank was in strict accordance with a number of policies and procedures. These documents set out in detail what steps could be undertaken in cases of financial hardship based on several factors. These factors included the type of difficulty (credit card, personal loan, mortgage), the history of the client and the level of hardship. Depending on the history of the client, differing levels of proof of hardship were also required.
I soon realised that in order to best assist people I had to quickly become conversant with all these policies and procedures. I made sure that I became familiar with them as soon as possible and found that I was able to provide guidance to clients much more efficiently and effectively.
Another example relates to the requirements of the ANZ Bank for all employees to undertake 6 monthly training and assessments on a variety of topics. These included occupational health and safety, workplace emergency response, money laundering, bribery, terrorism, fraud, security and non-disclosure of information. I understood that many of these topics could impact on my daily work, so I ensured that undertook the required training and I was successful in all the required assessments.
A final example I would like to highlight relates to my volunteer work as an Interpreter and Translator for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Victoria. Some of my duties included organising and managing asylum seekers’ files and case documents and compiling country information and submitting case documents for immigration interview. I also assisted lawyers with their Dari, Persian, Hindi or Urdu speaking clients. All of these duties required that I quickly gained an understanding of all legal requirements relevant to seeking asylum and the role of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in these processes. Developing my knowledge and skills in this area allowed me to provide clients with the best service possible.
