A beginner’s guide to employment services

MAX Solutions offers a range of services designed to help people build a better future, and these include employment services. Here is our beginner’s guide to employment services.

How do employment services work?

MAX is contracted by the government to provide employment support services to a range of Australians, including those receiving a JobSeeker Payment.
From finding employment, upskilling with training or providing health support, we provide employment services to over 125,000 customers in 250 locations across Australia.

In most cases, Centrelink will refer you to an employment services provider like MAX in your area. You can request that Centrelink refer you to your local MAX office.

As an employment service provider, MAX is here to support you into employment. This can happen in a variety of ways, and the support you receive will be tailored to you.

Getting started with a Job Plan

In some circumstances, as part of receiving a support payment from Centrelink, you will be required to set out a Job Plan. This is typically part of mutual obligation requirements. 

A Job Plan is basically the tasks you agree to complete in order to demonstrate you are looking for work.

Your MAX consultant will walk you through this, identifying your employment goals and the tools, resources and training that will help you to achieve these goals. 

We will discuss the types of work available in your local area and how we can best assist you to get the type of job you are looking for. 

Access to training and licences

If reaching those goals will prove difficult without extra skills training, we can look at providing you with access to relevant education and training courses. These could include:

• Vocational education 

• Job search skills

• English language, literacy and numeracy support

• Employability skills.

Find out more about our skills training. 

We may also be able to provide financial assistance to help you attain work-specific licences such as:

• Driver’s licence
• Forklift licence
• Construction white card.

Health services

We will ensure you can access any health services that you might need. These could include:

• Health assessments to ensure you have access to the right support
• Group health programs so you can share and learn from other people’s experiences
• Supports to overcome addiction or other health challenges you might be facing. 

Job search support

Your MAX team will support you as you search for work. Our team understands your local labour market and can connect you with great opportunities with respected employers. Job search support services also include:

• Providing access to computers, the internet and free wifi
• Help to write or update your resume
• Assistance to prepare job applications
• Support to prepare for interviews (this might include mock interviews or group interview training sessions)
• Access to MAXConnect, an online portal designed to match you with jobs that fit your skillset. Many of these positions are only available to MAX customers.

Support through interviews

Doing interviews when you haven’t done them for a while can be daunting. Employment service providers can help coach you through this, prepare you for interviews you have coming up and be there to debrief when you leave the interview. Sometimes it feels good just to talk through what happened in the interview. 

There are other supports you might be eligible for such as help to cover the cost of work clothing and uniforms and travel costs to attend interviews.

In work support

Once you land a job, we will be there to support you. Settling into a new job can bring challenges you don’t expect. You might be unsure about building relationships with colleagues or not feeling confident about implementing new skills as you start on the job. 

We will stay in contact via phone, online or workplace visits to ensure you have everything you need to perform at your best. 

Find out more

As an employment services provider and Australia’s largest provider of jobactive employment services, MAX is here to help you find a job that suits you. Find out more about our jobactive employment services, or call our team on 1800 603 503.