 This is work BC real people inspiring stories. Hi, I'm Danny. I've held a lot of jobs in my life I've been in service and retail even been an amateur poker player now that I'm a filmmaker I thought I'd turn the lens on people who have made their own career changes to discover just how they found their fit When I hand out resumes they wanted more experience It's not just your minimum wage cleaning job with a small company And what I'm gonna tell you guys about these machines is they are very easy to use as soon as you know how We want people to become financially self-sufficient. I can't live on social assistance I was like I'm gonna actually do a career. Okay, so what do you guys think? You could all do this? So I had to have a career change to support my family Grant Johnson found himself unable to provide for his family on subsidized income and decided to do something about it Using the resources available. He found a job that worked for him, but the toughest part of all was making the decision to change My name is Grant Johnson. I work for a 1-3-3 West Pender. I'm the head janitor here So I maintain this whole building I make sure that everything's working properly and then I clean in their unit one if I need to So really all the elderly people that live here are relying on you for a clean and safe environment? Yes Tell me about what it was like before you got the job. It's actually pretty hard to live in here I was on social assistance because I couldn't actually find a proper job here I put resumes out, but I want to do something different and I heard about the janitor job So not that I know a lot of people in Vancouver here hire janitors So I took the program and I graduated What a great opportunity to discover more about the Aboriginal Employment Program Grant Sook that led him to a rewarding career Coordinator Brenda Krum of Access in the downtown Vancouver East Side was eager to talk to me about grant the program itself It's a 24-day program. It offers six different certificates in the area of the janitorial field So what participants are getting essentially when they complete our program is they're getting a building service worker certificate They're also getting a women's certificate a health and safety certificate. They get food safe They get first aid and they get three days of computer training and if I were to walk in on some participants today What might I see them doing okay? Well today you're gonna see them actually doing the hands-on portion with the building service worker training if you lift straight up the Machine goes to the right if you push straight down the machine goes to the left And so I'll demonstrate that for you and so the students come in here They spend a couple of weeks with me we go through a lot of theory on cleaning and there is a lot of theory on cleaning What are you trying to instill in the participants? Probably the most important thing I relate to them Fairly constantly is an attitude like that's a really key element and I know employers are looking for that They want to hire people who have a good attitude good and a good work ethic So how many people hear about the program? Well, they hear about the program through different community resources that are out there One of the biggest ones that we use is through work BC and I get a lot of referrals from work BC about this program They've even gone so far as to even put it on their website, which has made it really nice an easy way for people to access information I'm a grants employer David Eddy chief executive officer of the Vancouver native housing Society to learn how the program offers a great opportunity to qualified aboriginal candidates We have about 70 employees at Vancouver native housing Society We like to as much as we can hire aboriginal people and so the fact that access has an active program that trains Those people is really beneficial to us aboriginal families are the fastest growing demographic of any families including immigrants So a big part of the upcoming workforce will be aboriginal people. So one of your earliest participants was grant Can you tell me a little bit about him? Yes, he went through graduated had perfect attendance and soon after he completed the program He got work full-time job. He's now taking care of his own building. He takes such pride in what he's doing He loves his job and this offered him a real opportunity to be able to become financially independent and get away from Income assistance. It's time for a fresh start. You want to improve your quality of life by finding work that fits you But where do you begin? WorkBC.ca is your jumping off point into BC's growing economy You'll learn everything you need to know about the labor market so you can align your skills training today with the jobs of tomorrow You'll also find workBC centers that connect you to employment services for specialized groups From there, you'll be pointed to programs and resources available to help you learn new skills Like resume writing and job search techniques. They may even provide hands-on training WorkBC.ca's tools can help you find useful employment statistics such as regional demand growth patterns and wages Grant knew he needed a fresh start and he's on his way to building a bright future for himself and his family Since I got this job, it's like kind of really changed my life coming from a small village where I'm from It's like it's nothing but alcohol drugs and all that stuff, but Now it's different. It's like I'm a family man and I was raising my kids on my own and Now I could actually support for them After talking with Grant for the last time I couldn't help but feel impressed by him He wanted to provide a better life for his family and took action to seek out opportunities that fit his interests and needs He used the available resources to help him get a fresh start and it's clear he's now on the road to success