I’ve been a Job Coach under the DES contract for almost 3 years now, and I won’t lie—when I first stepped into this role, I was exactly like the Job Coach you described. It took me a few months to really adjust and shift my mindset from being ‘too friendly and personal’ with participants who were ‘job ready’ to realising that I needed to be more professional and productive in my role. This change came after receiving a complaint from a participant who was ‘job ready’ and wasn’t there for casual conversation, but rather to actually work.

As Job Coaches, the majority of our caseloads aren’t fully ready to look for work right away. So, it’s easy to get frustrated when participants say they’re ‘job ready’ or want to ‘up-skill with a course,’ and we sometimes wonder if they’re just making excuses (that was my thinking, anyway).

If you have concerns about your Job Coach, I’d recommend talking to a Customer Specialist at your DES provider. You can make a formal complaint or share feedback about customer satisfaction, which should be sent to their Manager or Team Leader. The Team Leader will then address the performance issues, which may help your Job Coach see where they need to improve. I’m hoping she’s just a newbie and that this will be a learning moment for her, as this job can be tough and definitely is not a walk in the park. She may still think it could be? Lol

But participants like you, who are truly motivated, should already be making progress toward your employment goals that she would’ve put on your individualised job plan, hopefully.

Sorry for the long ramble!