The benefits of working with Temping Job option

My name is Lesila Tangulu, 26 years old living in Kolonga, Tongatapu. I graduated from Saineha High School with a Form 7 Certificate. 

I held on to my first job as Cashier & Customer Service for nearly three years before I took my first holiday to travel overseas. I volunteer for my church in my spare time.  

On my return to Tonga, I looked for other jobs and with no success, I decided to just stay home and look after my mum.  After a while I started to find myself heavily relying on my family for almost everything. I got demotivated, bored and thought what is  the point of trying.

Early this year, I learned about TYEE and the work they do for youth like myself. I took the courage to visit TYEE and seek for help. I registered for the Career & Work Ready training workshop in August 2019. 

When I learned about TYEE's Temping Job option, I thought this is something new to me,  and would love to give it a go.  My first Temp Job was a Babysitter/Nanny for three weeks.  I enjoy working with children and I was keen to try it out. When I found out who I was to work for, a diplomat couple from overseas with their two beautiful young girls, I already wanted to start my Temp job.

TYEE: Lesila, can your please explain what your experience was like after taking the three weeks Temp job?
​Lesila:  My experience was from the learning I gained on the job. I learned so much from this job. I know that a lot of youth view babysitting or nanny as a low job and they do not want to do it. But my experience is very different. At first, I thought it would be hard. But when I started, I quickly learned to build my relationship with the girls and their parents and I enjoyed it because I like meeting new people. Being a nanny requires a high level of trust, honesty and accountability.  This job required me to communicate well in English, respectful, reliable, organised and to manage my time well on the job.  I also learned a lot form the parents - they are structured and organised and I love seeing their attitude to work. The parents are friendly and the home environment made me feel safe.

TYEE: If the same Temp opportunity will come through tomorrow, would you do it again?
Lesila: Yes! Most definitely. I like the flexibility of the job and meeting new people in short time.

TYEE: Do you have any comment you wish to share with the youth who are still looking for work?
Lesila: My experience with TYEE has been wonderful.  I want to thank Team TYEE for making me feel welcome and for their ongoing support and the opportunity to work.  The training work-ready workshop really helped me to understand myself better, be confident, work hard and know that this is the start to my new journey to be trusted and independent.

I thanked the girls' parents for trusting me with their home and their daughters. My job required a lot of trust, honesty, reliability and good communication. I have never worked for a foreign high level family and home environment before. My experience and skills learned from this job is amazing. I enjoyed the Temp job because it gave me lots of flexibility and the people I worked for were good to me and I feel blessed.

My message to the youth, a job is a job if that is what you are looking for. There is no low jobs or high jobs, that is just you and your mind thinking.  What is important is that you are able to prove to an employer that you are the best person for the job and you can be hired for a job.  If you want to achieve a goal, and not to rely on your parents for everything, this is one way to do it.

I also learned that I need to start at my job, and be good at my job to deserve my pay. I am more confident now, I have additional new skills and experience in this level of service. 

Temp job is good for learning and developing oneself. If flexibility, new skills, experience and earning an income are what you are after then the Temp jobs at TYEE is the way to go.