Name: Emmanuel Asante
Age: 24
Dreams of: Being an art teacher
I really need money for school. Tafe starts in February, and on 11 January I’ll call to inquire and enrol. Then I’ll start the graphic design course, which will cost $4,000.
So far, I have about $3,000. I hope I can save another $1,000 in time.
My ideal 2021 would be moving out and going to school. And getting a job, as well. I’m planning to move out, but the money I had saved to move out is now going to pay for Tafe.
Before Christmas my employment case manager got me a casual job at a warehouse.
Warehouse work depends on the agency you’re working for. The agency I worked for in 2019 used to give us our shifts a week ahead. You could reschedule your week. But others only tell you on the day whether you have work. Sometimes they can cancel your shift on the day. Then someone might call in sick, and the agency will call back and tell you you have work again. It becomes very hard to plan your life.
Sometimes I have gigs, like public speaking, and you can’t cancel at the last minute because it’s unprofessional. It was very, very hard for me. It depends on your luck; if you get an agency that gives you your shifts a week ahead, then you’re lucky.
I was uncomfortable at my most recent warehouse, and just before Christmas I stopped getting called for shifts there.
If you’re lucky and get a good employment agency to help you find a job, hallelujah. Some agencies treat you like you don’t matter. When you go for the first interview, they’ll make you feel it is all OK. But once you sign, it’s a different story.
I have to shout out my employment agency, Wise Employment. They are good. My case manager was saying “Emmanuel, you have to do something about your resume. It’s all arts and public speaking – it’s not something I can use to get you into warehousing jobs.”
Now I depend on Centrelink and art commissions. I got two or three commissions. I got a little bit from that. That is what I am using to survive.
Mostly I charge $100 for an A4 portrait, including the frame. My mentors tell me, “Emmanuel, your work is cheap.” It’s hours of work for each portrait. I was trying to increase the prices, but once you increase the prices people are like, “Oh, it’s expensive” and they all run away. After getting two or three orders from people I stopped. I couldn’t do it any more because I was under-selling myself. But I really need money.
I don’t know what might happen. The government might decide to reduce the Centrelink payments, and there’s nothing you can do about it. So I’m a little bit worried.
I’m basically looking for any work that could keep me going, or paying my rent. I don’t care about the location – as long as it’s close to transportation, because I don’t have my P’s yet.
There’s not much work out there. Everyone has already taken their Christmas casuals. My friends keep sending me jobs available, but they all say they have no more work. You get discouraged. I have got to the point where I have decided to wait until next year, and focus on art. When my luck shines, I get people who want to get very big artworks from me – I can charge something like $500, and I’d be good for a week.
I wouldn’t like to work in a cafe. After I came to Australia I was learning how to be a barista. While I was training some customers would come in and say “No, I don’t want him to serve me. I want the white lady to serve me.” Ever since then I never have wanted to work in cafes or in fast food – anything where I have to interact with customers.
My employment agent is trying hard to get me a job in recycling. In recycling the pay is good. The agency found the job just before Christmas, so they said in the new year I might find out if there is work for me. My case manager said it will probably be sorting out the recycling stuff. I said, I’m down for it. She told the person everything about me. I feel like it might be an 80% chance it could happen. It will be casual. Hopefully if I become a more regular person, then I can get part-time.
Right now, with the Covid flare-up in Sydney, I’m a little bit worried, but not as worried as in the beginning of the year. Some of the programs and exhibitions I was going to be part of in early January have been impacted by the outbreak. I have been really looking forward to them. I had volunteered to be part of the Australian National Maritime Museum exhibition A Mile in My Shoes which is all about migration and refugees in early January, and now it has been shifted to late January. Another one where I was going to be paid, a live performance also about migration, was supposed to be on 10 January, but we’ve been told they might shift the date. We’re not sure yet. We’re waiting on the government advice.
For now I’d say I’m just getting by OK.
