Dennis Duerr
Coordinator of Buddies Peer Support Service, Wellington
From 1993 to 2003, I was studying and pursuing my own interests, mainly a search for holistic health. In 1996, I applied for a supermarket job, but didn't get it. I later found out that it was because I had talked about my stress levels in the interview. A year later, I enrolled in a creative writing course. At the interview, I again mentioned my experience of mental illness, but this time they rang me later on that day, saying that they felt I was well enough to join the course.
I registered at Student Job Search six years ago. My first job was cleaning for someone with a physical disability. My next job was with an organisation for nurse aide work and home care. At the interview I was asked why I was well into my 20s but had never worked a full-time job. I explained that I had experienced mental illness and was in recovery. I had a really good referee: my writing tutor. The interviewer rang later to say she believed everyone needed a start somewhere.
My illness was never mentioned again. Proving myself at that job enabled me to get another job with Capital Nursing.
My next job was with a mental health provider. I got the job, I think, partly because I disclosed my experience of mental illness and recovery.
I now have a career in mental health. I am coordinator of Buddies Peer Support Service in Wellington and am grateful to that person who helped get my foot into the door.
