Dylan achieves 26 weeks of employment with Illawarra Yacht Club

Dylan, a 20-year-old from Wollongong, faced significant challenges after finishing Year 12 in 2021. Living with autism and anxiety, he struggled to find a clear path to employment or further education. His learning difficulties and low confidence, along with his reliance on his mother for transportation due to not having a driver’s license and feeling overwhelmed by public transport, further compounded his struggles. 

However, in October 2023, Dylan joined our service, and positive changes began to unfold. 

From the outset, Dylan was paired with Taylah, a consultant close to his age and with a compatible communication style. This made Dylan feel comfortable, helping him quickly build trust and positive rapport. Together, they developed a personalised job plan. 

Taylah started by creating a strengths-based resume, highlighting Dylan’s willingness to work and politeness. Recognising the importance of first impressions, she guided Dylan on how to be well dressed and groomed for interviews and appointments. 

By reducing the complexity of how to make life adjustments and simplifying the support, Dylan’s social skills and interview skills got better each appointment.  

After two months of support, Dylan’s confidence had significantly improved. Taylah then marketed Dylan to the Illawarra Yacht Club, an employer uLaunch has been collaborating with to help support their disability hiring agenda. Even though they had no vacant job roles, after meeting Dylan, they were impressed and willing to design a role to support him start an entry-level position. 

With the support of Taylah, Dylan attended a worksite tour at the club to better understand the duties required. He put is preparation to practice and completed an interview, which resulted in him getting a job tailor made for him! 

Dylan started his first job in January 2024, working 15 hours per week, assisting back-of-house to stock the cellar. This job was designed to rotate him into other areas to help him build his hospitality experience. During this process, Dylan was pleasantly surprised to find he excelled on the front desk greeting members. 

To further support Dylan’s development, uLaunch helped him obtain his Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certificate and Responsible Conduct of Gambling (RCG) card, expanding his opportunity for long-term employment. 

In July, Dylan achieved 26 weeks in employment and is currently thriving in his role at Illawarra Yacht Club. 

Because of the successful hiring of Dylan, the Illawarra Yacht Club has continued collaborating with uLaunch. This has created more job opportunities for our participants, resulting in two more of our clients joining the business. 

Reflecting on his journey, Dylan shared:

Dylan’s story is a testament to the power of customised support, quality relationship building and collaboration with community organisations. 

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You could be eligible for help in finding a suitable job from uLaunch Disability Employment Services, just like Dylan.