299 applications, still job hunting
Former Southland man Graham Potts has owned and operated five joinery and furniture businesses, employing up to seven people at one point.
But his 38-year career was put on hiatus in 2009 when he suffered a stroke.
Now, 12 years later, able to walk, drive and use a computer with one hand, the 66-year-old is desperate to find a job.
Potts said he had racked up the ‘‘unenviable record’’ of applying for 299 jobs without success. With luck, he received news yesterday that he had a job interview today.
But he wasn’t sure if his lack of luck on the job front – about 20 replies and five interviews in the past eight years – was because potential employers had concerns about his age or because of ‘‘preconceived thoughts about my disability’’.
Potts said he would ‘‘love the chance to prove my worth again’’.
‘‘But knowing I am more than capable, keen and willing, I continue my search for work through determination and perseverance for middle management and administrative positions,’’ he said.
Potts started his first job when he was 15, making polished brass door steps.
After completing a joinery apprenticeship, Potts left his hometown, Invercargill, for a job restoring manor homes in London and building Old English pubs and restaurants in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Scandinavia.
Potts returned to Invercargill and set up a joinery factory and a building renovation and alterations company.
He moved to Marlborough to run the family business in Spring Creek as an antiques dealer, restorer and valuer. He then opened his own joinery and furniture-making workshop and factory on Pauls Rd, in Rapaura. But in 2009, after going through a divorce, ‘‘while in top physical health’’, Potts suffered a stroke after getting a neck massage.
He was in a wheelchair for the next two years, and his left arm was permanently paralysed. Running the business became too much, and he was forced to sell, he said.
The same year, he was scammed out of his savings after a phone call from the United Kingdom offering ‘‘gold options’’. Potts said his decision-making was affected by the 48 pills a day he was taking. He had to sell his
lifestyle block and start renting.
He did get a job last year through a government incentive for employers to take on people with a disability. That job didn’t work out, and he was back on the hunt again.
‘‘It’s hard enough having to search for work, especially after being the employer myself, but I feel the most frustrating part is not being replied to after taking the time to apply for advertised jobs.’’
While on the hunt, Potts was keeping busy buying, restoring and selling antiques. But he felt a full-time job would give him his ‘‘mojo’’ back.
‘‘Employment gives you dignity and a purpose in life,’’ he said.
Potts would, however, like to see more government assistance for employers to take on disabled people and people over 60. And he thought there should be more help for people wanting to start a business.