J referred herself for support after being made redundant from a temporary role. She had little confidence with applying for jobs and was not getting through to shortlisting.
With Working Denbighshire support she was able to work towards an I.T and Administration qualification and secure employment
When J referred to Working Denbighshire, she had been unemployed for several months following a redundancy from a temporary role. J was finding it easy to identify jobs she wanted to apply for and felt she had a good CV but couldn’t understand why she wasn’t hearing back from employers. When the national lockdowns were enforced due to Covid19, many jobs were advertised less and less, so she didn’t know what to do. J had some good qualifications but they were dated and some were not well recognised. Together, we looked at updating her training and worked on selling herself to potential employers.
When J referred, she already knew what sector she wanted to work in so we explored this further and identified the type of jobs she had been applying for. I encouraged J to make use of our online job club sessions as I was aware she was proficient in using computers and resources online. The online sessions gave valuable insight into CV writing, catering applications to specific roles and presentations from local employers and training providers.
With extra demand for home workers and admin staff during the pandemic, it didn’t take long for an opportunity to become available through the DWP. It was suggested we complete the application together but because J was so eager she had already sent it directly to the employer.
Unfortunately, J was not short-listed for interview for this role and so we continued our searches.
As support sessions continued, we identified an online course in Administrative Skills which captured J’s interest. As we looked further into it, we discovered the cost of the course was too expensive when considering the content and lack of accreditation, so again we continued looking for other courses. We spotted some ECDL qualifications being offered but due to Covid19 affecting local colleges, it proved difficult trying to find information and took several months to get clarification on when the courses would be running again due to restrictions changing often.
During a catch up phone call with J, she advised she had applied for a few jobs recently. I advised that it would be worth letting me support her with applications to save missing out on opportunities, particularly as she was still not getting responses from them. Following this we spent time working on ways to ensure she stands out when applying for jobs and again reminded her of our free interactive online sessions. I advised she does not need to interact if she doesn’t want to and could just sit on her laptop quietly observing and listening to the information provided.
I continued to pursue the ECDL course with local college and finally managed to get J enrolled! A Barrier Fund application was approved to cover the cost of a Level 1 and 2 qualifications.
As luck would have it, a week later a vacancy came up with the Work Start Scheme (WSS) which sounded perfect for J. I sent the vacancy to her and she confirmed she would like to apply for it. We completed application form together over the phone. I started it off by listing the skills I was knew J had such as great communication skills, well-mannered and polite and that she was in the process of completing an ECDL course with the college to increase her I.T skills. J then completed the final details and talked about her previous experience and what this would bring to the role. In the same week J was identified as a suitable candidate and was invited to a pre-screening with the employment coordinator. Feedback from this was really positive and J was informed she would be offered an interview with the employer.
J advised that she would need interview clothing so a barrier form was completed and authorised for a set amount. The employment co-ordinator had already covered with J questions that may come up in the interview but I emailed over a few tips and examples of questions & best practise answers just as a refresher. The next day, J found out that she got the job! Once her start date was finalised I advised she would be signposted to a Placement Officer with Work Start Scheme who would support her throughout her first day and placement etc.
Unfortunately, J got in touch with me the day after her start date and asked me if I could continue working with her as the placement hadn’t worked out. I rang her immediately and she advised me that communication had been poor from the employer and due to issues regarding an official start date, she had decided not to continue. I assured that I would continue to support her and we agreed a new action plan.
I followed up my conversation with J by speaking with the Placement Officer about the situation and was given a slightly different story in that J had not been able to attend her first day as planned and had asked for an alternative start date. The main employer was off, so the person in charge had advised J that as soon as she can confirm a new start date she will be back in touch but as J did not hear back by the end of that day, she had allegedly informed the Placement Officer that she had changed her mind. The Placement Officer was professional and respectful about her decision but shared with me privately that he felt she was potentially over reacting.
Working against the new action plan, J continued to apply for vacancies and was interviewed for various other positions without success. As our appointments continued, we applied for another Work Start placement which we applied for. When J was invited to interview we discussed questions that may come up and all the hard work paid off because this time she was offered the job and a 30 hour per week contract. I’ve kept in touch with J to ensure she is happy and she is still working there to this date. She is getting great feedback from her assigned Placement Officer and Manager and is very much enjoying the role.