APM NZ - Blake's Work Assist journey with APM Dunedin transcript

Blake: I'm Blake. I'm 21, from Dunedin. I'm a floor sander and polisher. So, I grew up in Northeast Valley and then I went into work with my brother before I went into a bad mental health period, and then Caleb hit me up. Caleb mentioned he was working for a new organisation and that if I was on a benefit, perhaps I should come in and see him.

Caleb: Blake came to us and he didn't really know what he wanted to do. He was at a bit of a turning point in his life. It could have gone one or two ways, up or down. And he reached out and said, "Can you give me a bit of a hand?"

Blake: He helped develop a CV and made it really easy for me, helped me out along the way, and now I feel like I've got a professional CV that I could hand in anywhere. I think the counselling was a big thing for me. They helped set that up. Just made me feel a wee bit more confident in myself.

Caleb: The Work Assist program basically benefits anyone that's looking to get into work. We work with people from different backgrounds, different ages, different work experiences, different life experiences. So anyone that's looking for work that needs a bit of a hand, a bit of a push up, a little bit of guidance or support along the way, it's open to everyone. So anyone that is motivated to look for work and is just not too sure about how to go about it, then we're willing to help them.

Blake: Working with APM was a really positive experience. They helped me a lot. They made it very easy and weren't too pushy with getting some of the things done. I'd highly recommend it, and have done to several friends.