Dr Jane Turnbull’s innovative business Own Words is a form of digital matchmaking; a recruitment platform that matches people’s skills with an employer's needs to get that perfect match.

Dr Turnbull, who is based at the iAccelerate building at the University of Wollongong's Innovation Campus, developed Own Words to give job seekers an alternative to the one-size-fits-all written résumé. Her business allows users to create digital story job applications, where they can demonstrate their skills using multiple media, such as video, audio and images.

“The written word can be limiting for many people,” says Dr Turnbull. “Written text is not always the first choice when people want to share their work experience and skills.”

Dr Turnbull knows this first hand. She is dyslexic, and her son has also struggled with writing.

“Even people who are pretty good at writing have said to me, ‘I hate writing my résumé, I don’t know how to do it’. This platform actually takes you by the hand and is a step-by-step process that shows you how to create a digital story résumé, using a mode that resonates with the job seeker.”

Own Words allows job seekers to create short, two to three minute video résumés to showcase their experience. 

“It’s an advantage for employers because using traditional written résumés marginalises many groups of people looking for work,” says Dr Turnbull. “Now employers can recruit more widely, and recruit for diversity, by allowing these groups to show employers how they can froth milk or change car oil, for example.” 

Employers who have used the platform have told Dr Turnbull that, “it supports them to make good recruitment decisions, as you cannot gain insight with the written word”.

Dr Turnbull has a background in human resources and adult education. She came up with the idea for her business after, “getting tired of hearing my managers say to me, ‘we’re not going to employ that person because there’s a spelling mistake in their résumé’.

“I thought, ‘there must be a better way of doing this’ and I came up with the idea of storytelling.”

Dr Turbull, who was studying a Masters in Adult Education, quit her job in human resources and began working on her digital storytelling thesis full-time to get her idea tested through peer review.

She received an overwhelmingly positive response from her colleagues and supervisors. The platform was developed and tested at the minimum viable product stage (MVP), where it was well-received by employers and employees.

However, Dr Turnbull has found it difficult to reach her target market; those with a disability. This is due to a reluctance by government contracted employment service providers to use the platform. People with a disability are twice as likely as those without a disability to be unemployed, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Dr Turnbull explains that while a digital storytelling résumé is an easy-to-navigate alternative to traditional résumé writing, many employment service providers have high caseloads, making it difficult to adopt and adapt to change.

A passionate advocate for removing barriers to employment, Dr Turnbull took her product to Workforce Australia in Canberra, who agreed it was an innovative tool which could be utilised by employment providers supporting clients through the NDIS.

After several years of attempting to break into the employment provision market, Dr Turnbull put it in the “too hard basket” and decided to start her own employment service.

“I'm now an NDIS provider and I will be testing the market in Kiama this month, asking employers in retail and hospitality if they would be willing to use the Own Words digital storytelling platform,” said Dr Turnbull.

She will hold free workshops for job seekers and employers at the Innovation Campus throughout May and is looking to host workshops in Kiama and Shellharbour, and partner with education and employment service providers. 

Dr Turnbull also works with Flagstaff, a well-respected local employer for those with a disability. Flagstaff helped Dr Turnbull create her innovative braille embossed business cards.

“I want this service to be for everyone,” says Dr Turnbull. “I want to make employment accessible to everyone.”

Join Dr Jane Turnble for her upcoming seminar, "Aligning Job Skills with Employer Needs." Catch her from 6 - 8pm on Thursday 23 May at the ground floor of the Kiama Library building. 

For more information about Dr Turnbull’s digital storytelling services, visit: ownwords.com.au