Circle of Friends Australia Inc.

On returning to Adelaide in 2019 after 20 years overseas I mixed with a large, diverse cohort of people: refugees, asylum seekers, recent migrants from all cultures, indigenous, homeless, differently abled, men, women, young, and old. A common thread was their demoralisation in trying to find employment.

I sowed a seed: Jobs Cafe – one man band, purely voluntary (no money involved), referral driven, no engagement with the bureaucracy and “opened the door” to all. The basis was a coffee and chat, identification of the role that they really wanted to pursue and setting them on a process to secure an interview. Added to that a series of monthly events was staged focusing on elements related to readiness for job search: Resume, Job Identification, Cover Letter, Interview, Networking, Public Speaking.
In 2023 the event programme was paused for 18 months due to a medical issue and recovery while the one on one meets continued.

The event programme has been revived this year and attracts 25 – 45 attendees on each occasion.
As of today, 23 May 2025, the number of registrants for Jobs Cafe support has reached 1250 with 479 known jobs won (not everyone stays in touch). The only overhead to date has been one on one meet coffees! The monthly coffee bill has been met by a wonderful company who saw this as a pivot in the Jobs Cafe approach.

WEBSITE