Alfred and APM Employment Services transcript

Alfred: Feels great to have a job and doing something. From where I used to be to now, I guess it gives you more confidence as a person and relating with other people. My name's Alf. I work for EON as a concierge for Department of Communities. At first, it was wasn't easy, but that's probably because I was going through depression. I eventually got myself to a mental state where I was able to just take the plunge.

Austin: Alfred was a very shy guy, but very personable and I could see he was quite easily approachable, a lovely polite man, very respectful. And that was the first impression that I got from him.

Alfred: First they asked what I wanted to do, so I suggested I do a security course. And Peta helped me. She rang, organized for us to get a spot on the security course at Perth Security in Fremantle, and she got in contact with Austin who helped us, like I said, with all the small stuff like uniforms, anything like that, and the emotional support. We talked regularly, probably once a week, until I did the course.

Austin: His consultant reached out to me to say, "Can I please assist him? Do I have any contacts in security?" And I thought, I've already got one fellow working at an Indigenous owned security company. Why not have two? So I picked up the phone and made a phone call to Scott over at EON and, yeah, the rest is history.

Robert: Our relationship with APM has been great. We were talking on a daily basis, APM and in particular Austin, who we've worked quite closely, knows our business, knows our people, knows what we're about. As an organization, we don't have that link to all communities and with APM we do. Alfred came to us being out of work for a very long time, was willing to give anything a go, learnt really quickly in his role. He now meets and greets several 100 people on a daily basis, helps them on their journey into this building and what they're here to do on a daily basis, and we've seen him excel quite significantly in his role. We continuously receive positive feedback from our customers, from visitors, from members of the public.

Austin: I just knew that he would fit in just with his social skills. He's very easily approachable. Although he comes off as shy, I just knew that he would be the perfect fit. It's great to see him evolve from the person that he was. He reminds me of someone that's very proud of what he's been able to achieve.

Alfred: When I started the role, it turned out to be a good fit in the end because of the people I've met and I work with. They've made the role really enjoyable today. When it comes to working with EON for Rob and Scott, all they need to do is just give us a call and I'll do anything they ask. If you get an opportunity, just grab it and take it. You never know where it might lead you.