Many people’s careers reach an inflection point when they want to share their knowledge and expertise with others while still stretching their technical skills. However, it can be tricky to find a role that accommodates this.
Fortunately for Rehabilitation Counsellor and Lead Vocational Consultant (Queensland) Georgia Jenkins, KINNECT has provided the right environment to fulfil her purpose – supporting both clients and her team members in their mission to get people healthy and back to work. We spoke to Georgia about her career journey and having the best of both worlds in her role.
What does your current role involve?
I’m responsible for mentoring and supporting all new workplace rehabilitation consultants in Queensland (QLD) who provide new employer services. That means I provide job-specific support alongside their team managers to ensure we’re providing a consistent service across the board. I also support our rehabilitation counsellors, psychologists and occupational therapists when providing new employer services.
What did you do prior to joining KINNECT?
I worked for another occupational rehabilitation provider for two years. It was my first ‘big girl’ job after university.
Why did you choose to work at KINNECT?
My first role was a good experience, but I decided to join KINNECT for something a bit different and to see what other occupational rehabilitation companies and their culture are like.
What was KINNECT like when you started?
I started in a growth role for vocational/new employer services in the Gold Coast team. There was already a rehabilitation counsellor and a psychologist in the Gold Coast office, which was a blessing because I was really well supported locally.
Because it was a growth role, I provided assistance to our teams in Victoria, New South Wals and around Queensland when they needed additional capacity. I gained experience with the different legislations in other states and became more familiar with what North and Central Queensland look like.
In my first year, I assisted the Gladstone team – I travelled up every fortnight for a few months to provide that support and be a regional consultant. That was a great experience because I’d never been up there, and it was fun to meet other KINNECTERs. It meant I built good connections as I’ve moved through KINNECT.
What has been your career Journey at KINNECT?
After supporting our teams down south for a year or so, a few more consultants started in Central and Northern QLD, including Geordie Mollard, so my role organically moved into training and supporting them and providing ongoing mentoring throughout their journey. Geordie was the first person that I was formally linked with to mentor and support when she started.
I offered job-specific support for technical skills like how to do a vocational assessment or what to do when we have tricky psychological claims. This progressed into doing case reviews and helping with reports for complex claims or taking those cases on if the KINNECTer working on it was new to the role.
I progressed into the Lead Consultant role in August last year. Alongside my other duties I now sit in on file reviews to mentor KINNECTERS on a fortnightly basis and run training.
How does KINNECT differ from other places you’ve worked?
The culture and the team, particularly in the Gold Coast office. It’s really nice to come to every day as I get to talk to a lot of people.
It’s great to have another rehabilitation counsellor in the office, but it’s also nice working in a multi-disciplinary team. I find it interesting to get other people’s perspectives on how they would approach a certain situation.
I’ve also developed many relationships with people up the QLD coast and in other states. It’s always lovely to link with those people for guidance and be friends as well as colleagues.
Can you recall a stand-out moment from your time at KINNECT?
I’ve had some complex psychological claims and had some great outcomes. I love that aspect of my job, but I think my biggest win recently was seeing Geordie grow from being a new graduate to becoming the Lead Psychologist. It’s so exciting to see her confidence improve and begin training other people. I think it’s my proudest achievement at KINNECT.
What do you like about your role?
Having the best of both worlds – I’m still a consultant “on the tools” with an adjusted caseload, but I also get to support team members.
I have a really nice balance of providing support to team members and being able to say: “This is how I’d apply this idea”, with staying in practice and helping people.
It’s nice to meet with a person who’s unsure what they’re going to do because they can’t do the job they’ve had for 35 years, do a vocational assessment and work with them through the psychological barriers. I get to see them gain full-time employment six months down the track when previously they thought it wasn’t possible.
If you’re interested in a career that allows you to fulfil your career goals, explore the vacancies in our Careers Centre.