Interview Highlight: Vildana Praljak - Vision Australia's Employment Service

Peter Greco speaks with Vildana Praljak who heads up Vision Australia's employment service. Vildana shares news on Vision Australia recognising Apple's commitment to workplace accessibility. Recently Apple have received an award regarding employing people with disabilities.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:13):
Let's talk about employment. Such an important topic. Recently, Apple
were awarded to by Visit Australia for their work in
the employment sector. Let's chat to a project from Visa Australia.
Lovely to meet you. Thank you for your time.

S2 (00:26):
Thank you Peter. Thank you for having me.

S1 (00:28):
This is obviously pretty good. A company like Apple can
be recognised for employing, uh, or making employment a bit
more inclusive.

S2 (00:35):
Absolutely. And we've been working with them for, um. Yeah,
two years now. They're really excellent partner in kind of
creating those opportunities for people who are blind or have
low vision to pursue the meaningful career. I suppose, like
anyone else that wants to have a meaningful career.

S1 (00:50):
Yeah, of course, many people use Apple products, and VoiceOver
is such a ubiquitous thing amongst people who are blind
or low vision. So, uh, you know, kind of, um,
accessibility is built into their products.

S2 (01:01):
Absolutely. And what I'm finding really in working with them,
it's absolutely a part of their culture. It is one
of the core values, the core business value as well.
It's about access and inclusion. So they're really, you know,
walking the walk and talking to talk. Absolutely.

S1 (01:16):
Yeah. And I think I know maybe two or 3
or 4 biggest companies in the world. So it's kind
of cool that a company like that has got that ethos.

S2 (01:24):
Absolutely, I think so. And, you know, all of their products,
I'm absolutely enabled access to information for many people who
are blind or have low vision, but broader community as well.
So absolutely very grateful. Um, even for myself, I have
low vision. So yeah, Apple products are a game changer
for sure.

S1 (01:42):
It's a great point you make because of course we
talk about voiceover, but there's a screen magnification that can
make such a big difference as well.

S2 (01:48):
Yes, yes it can. And I think in between screen
magnification and voiceover. And you can adjust your contrast and
your settings around, you know, with the color color scheme
you want to have. And yeah, I find them extremely,
extremely accessible.

S1 (02:03):
Any idea how this came about or how long Apple
and Vision Australia kind of been working together?

S2 (02:08):
Yeah, it's about 3 or 4 years now. It's just
a couple of employment consultants in Sydney have reached out
to Apple because one of our clients was interested to
get a job there, and that's how the relationship started.
Apple recruitment team is very open minded, very inclusive. And um, yeah,
they just kind of turned this into a bit more

(02:29):
formal relationship. And it has really resulted with some incredible, um,
achievements for our clients.

S1 (02:35):
Well be a pretty cool thing when you meet someone
and they say, what do you do? And you say,
I work for Apple. I mean, that'll kind of make
you feel a little bit taller.

S2 (02:44):
Totally. But I must tell you that they're one of
the most grounded people I've met. So, yeah, very simple,
grounded people.

S1 (02:51):
And I guess in a sense, I'm sure that the
process that they go through make sure they get the
best person for the job. But by the same token,
if that person does their job well, then I think, well,
you did a good job, then we can get someone
else as well. So it's kind of a multiplier effect.

S2 (03:08):
100%. So um, and that's exactly what we do in
employment services at Vision Australia. So our employment consultants, they
work very closely with the employer but also with the
job seeker or candidate. You know, we help people prepare
for the interview. We make sure that your resume is
really up to date and your, um, cover letter kind
of response to what the key selection criteria is. But

(03:31):
on the other hand, you know, with Apple, we know exactly,
you know, from working with them so closely, we know
what kind of talent they're looking out for. So we
kind of do a bit of a matchmaking magic there.
And it resulted. Yeah, it has resulted with, I think
around 15 people who applied for admission working in Apple
and or have been employed in Apple for the last

(03:53):
3 or 4 years. Yeah.

S1 (03:55):
I guess companies can't be expected to know everything, but
there is assistance out there. I mean, obviously, you know,
it's a pretty tough business world, but if, uh, things
like government support can make a bit of a difference,
workplace modifications, that sort of thing, that can play a role,
I think. Well, actually we can pardon the expression, but
we can kind of take a chance on this and

(04:15):
sort of roll the dice and see how it goes.

S2 (04:17):
No, absolutely. I think I mean, um, specifically with Apple,
the government support was not really a game changer. They're
they're sort of ethos is around the access and inclusion.
They're very sort of like we're doing this regardless of
whether support is there or not, that we work with
many businesses around the country. And, you know, everyone comes
from different sort of levels of knowledge and confidence around

(04:39):
employing someone who has low vision or blindness. And, you know,
Vision Australia has been providing employment services, you know, for
more than 25 years, close to 30 years, actually. And
we exactly. Um, so it's a no judgement sort of conversation.
We exactly know what you know, what sort of fears
or misunderstanding can be out there around, um, you know,

(05:02):
with employers around employing someone who's blind or has low vision.
And we've been successful employing, um, our, um, job seekers,
you know, for years. And it's possible. I think it's
just having the seat at the table talking through things. Um,
non-judgmentally asking the right questions. And then we connect them,
you know, with the right talent and the government support

(05:23):
where that is necessary.

S1 (05:25):
Well, I guess, yeah. As I say, you can't kind
of blame corporates for not knowing what they don't know.
I guess if they've got that open minded and you've
got that foot in the door, then you know, things
can sort of roll on from there.

S2 (05:35):
Absolutely. Yeah. And that was really leading by example there.
So um, and this sort of desire to be inclusive
employment place, um, it really comes from the very top.
And I think that's what we always find a lot
of success when the executive team or the leadership team
in the organisation is on board, everything else really falls

(05:56):
into place. So, yeah, we, we, um, had a lots
of great examples where that has worked and unfortunately some
examples where, you know, we tried very hard and it
didn't work out well. So yeah.

S1 (06:08):
Well I guess, you know, there's lots of lots, but
I'm sure there's a number of people who go for
a job, get it, and it doesn't turn out. And
sometimes it's just for not for the want of trying. Sometimes,
as you talked about matchmaking, sometimes the matchmaking doesn't turn
out okay, but that's kind of cool. You move on
and pick yourself up and dust yourself off.

S2 (06:27):
Absolutely. And I think that's pretty standard, really, for anyone
who's looking for work, whether you have blindness, low vision
or disability in general, you know, sometimes it works and
sometimes it doesn't. What we do work a lot with
our job seekers is we really sit down and look at, okay,
what is our current skill set? You know, what are
your superpowers? You know? And by that I mean, around,

(06:49):
you know, uh, knowledge and use of access technology, you know, um,
how independent are you in getting around, um, the community,
you know, do we need to support you there? You know,
just some of these basic sort of, um, making sure
that all of these skills and knowledge is in place.
So the talent and the knowledge and the Gender qualification
can shine through and you know, the screen reader side

(07:12):
of things or getting around catching public transport. We've already
done that. We've practiced that with the client. We we
provided the support and access to, um, specialists. So yeah,
that sort of job readiness is what we really focus on.
And that's why that employment retention for us is pretty
high for our clients that they get jobs. Many of

(07:32):
them maintain the employment beyond 52 weeks, which is one year. Um,
we're on track that after. But, um, yeah, that mark
is absolutely indicated that, you know, 50% of our clients
that gain employment stay beyond one year mark, which is
higher than national average, I believe, for people with disability
that currently sits around 19%.

S1 (07:53):
Wow. That's a very much impressive figure. That's great. I
was thinking of I'm not sure if irony is the
right word, but people do make their products very accessible
because of their products being accessible. They can actually help
people get jobs. So it's kind of an interesting irony
is the right way, but more than serendipitous, I would say.

S2 (08:14):
Well, I think it's very intentional on their part, to
be honest. Um, because at the end of the day,
you don't want to have as a business, you don't
want to have a group think where, you know, everyone
is just a clone of each other. And, you know,
we all think the same. Having that diversity. And as
you know, Peter, people with disability in general, particular blindness
and low vision, your whole life is, you know, a

(08:34):
whole bunch of workarounds. You just have to problem solve
all the time and rely on your logic and interpreting
information in all sorts of ways and, you know, spotting patterns.
And that's all such incredible skills. And it really helps
any sort of workplace thrive.

S1 (08:50):
Uh, how do you go? Are you looking for more
employees to take on people? Are you looking for more
people to say, I'd like to work. How's the balance
in in your office?

S2 (09:00):
Both. We always want to work with more employers, and
we always want to work with more people who are
blind or have low vision and I really kind of
keen to, um, you know, gain whether that's first time
employment or change their career, you know, or just try
something new. We, we love working with anyone. Really. So. Yeah. Um,
reach out please. Um, we just. Yeah. A phone call away.

S1 (09:23):
Okay. What? The fire, the, uh, website or the one
300 number? The best starting point. Either or.

S2 (09:28):
Whatever works for you. One 300 number will absolutely put
you through to someone that can have a bit of
a conversation with you, but it can always, um. On
a Vision Australia website, there's also a form that you
can fill in if you're expressing interest in employment services.

S1 (09:42):
All right. We'll put those details up there. It's good
to talk. We must talk more in the future about
employment opportunities. And you know, I guess it is difficult.
But you know, by the same token, it's good to
celebrate the wins when they come about.

S2 (09:54):
I so agree, Peter, and thank you so much for
the opportunity.

S1 (09:58):
If you've done a project there from the Employment Service Australia,
and again, boil down to Apple for that corporate award
handed out or awarded last week.