Campbell sets his sights higher with IntoJobs

After bouncing between casual jobs with limited hours, Campbell knew he wanted something more.

The 24-year-old had spent several years working in roles that offered little stability or sense of progression. While he wasn’t sure exactly where he wanted his career to take him, he knew he wanted more permanent work, more hours and the chance to “do better” for himself.

“Going home at the end of the day from a full day, you feel a bit more like you’ve achieved something compared with going home from a three-hour retail shift,” Campbell said.

Campbell connected with IntoJobs Rockhampton (delivered by MRAEL) in 2023, ready to make a change and pursue something more fulfilling. While he had previously viewed appointments with employment services as something he simply had to do, his experience with IntoJobs felt different.

“I actually enjoyed going into IntoJobs and sorting things out,” Campbell said. “You’d leave every appointment with a bit of a sense of direction and some idea about what happens next.”

Those early appointments helped set Campbell on a new course.

He soon secured ongoing work at a local pub/motel, where his varied role includes bartending and general maintenance around the premises. As he settled into work, he began looking for ways to keep progressing.

IntoJobs continued supporting Campbell after he found employment, helping with work uniforms and boots and, more recently, supporting him to complete his forklift licence.

The qualification has already proved useful in his current workplace, allowing Campbell to unload deliveries and take on additional hours. More importantly, he sees it as a skill he can take with him wherever his career leads.

“It’s upskilling in general. I can take that anywhere really,” he said.

But work has brought Campbell more than greater stability and new skills. Working at a local tavern has also connected him with people from across the community.

“It’s the lived experience really, isn’t it?” Campbell said. “The characters you meet and the fact that they’re looking forward to seeing you. They ask where you are if you have a day off. I’ve met more people here than I did from 2019 to 2024, probably.”

IntoJobs Employment Consultant Grace said Campbell’s progress showed what could happen when someone began to recognise their own potential.

“Campbell has really taken ownership of where he wants to go,” she said. “Once he started seeing what he was capable of, his outlook changed and he began looking for that next opportunity to learn and grow. I love to see that change and that drive to keep progressing.”

Looking back at where he was in 2023, Campbell describes his life now as more stable and consistent, with opportunities that might once have seemed out of reach now feeling much more achievable.

While Campbell still doesn’t claim to have his career completely mapped out, he knows which direction he wants to keep moving.

“You see some personal growth and all of a sudden you want more. You strive for better for yourself a little bit. You have to keep going. Keep moving upwards.”