When Mr P was referred he was allocated to the C4W project for 1-1 support from an Employment Mentor. As his mentor, I took time to speak to him face to face to find out what barriers he was experiencing to get back into employment. Mr P disclosed he has Asperger’s and struggles with low confidence and anxiety. It was evident that trying to achieve a higher level of confidence for Mr P would be essential part of his journey into employment so we started by completing confidence building tasks and discussing them in length. I asked Mr P to write down as many of his skills as possible. Mr P struggled with this at first and didn’t recognise his own attributes, so we worked together to identify each one and ended up with an impressive list! I also tasked Mr P to complete 7 activities every day where he would speak to people he didn’t know as this was a big barrier for him and after a week or so he was managing to complete the bulk of these tasks without any issues.
Unfortunately, as we started to get into the swing of things, the Covid-19 pandemic struck Wales and the public were urged to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus. This meant that the project staff were now working from home and face to face support could no longer go ahead, however this did not mean that the support needed to stop. I contacted Mr P to notify him of the change in service and advised that our appointments would mainly be held by telephone and email. Mr P continued to engage well and was really motivated to work towards his goal of employment.
I continued to send him a number of different tasks as our support was still new and was aware that Mr P required further help to increase his confidence. I enrolled Mr P on a course with Working Denbighshire’s Education & Training Coordinator and also set a range of motivational tasks, interview question preparation and updated his CV and job search site profiles to a high standard.
As our support sessions continued, we started to look into possible volunteering and paid opportunities that could be done at home. A couple of possibilities were explored such as digital heroes and phone buddies with DVSC, as well as a couple of admin roles in the NHS, however the response was limited.
Mr P was becoming increasingly keen to develop his skills further, so I introduced him to one of the Employment Co-ordinators within the Working Denbighshire team over a video call. The Employment Co-ordinator advised how she could support Mr P in addition to myself, and the first focus was interview techniques and preparation. Completing interview preparation with someone who is not the mentor can be beneficial as the experience is more realistic to a real interview and offers a fresh perspective from someone who doesn’t know the person as well as their allocated mentor would.
An opportunity soon arose within the Working Denbighshire Office for a social media volunteering placement in September 2020. Mr P expressed his interest in social media content previously and he stated he does run a couple of social media pages to promote music events. With this in mind he wanted to be considered for this role, so he was put forward for a pre-screening interview. Together with the Employment Coordinator, we completed specific interview preparation for the role and Mr P was successful in securing the placement! Mr P’s start date was October 2020 and is expected to last until April 2021, he integrated well into the team and although quiet, he attends the office regularly. Mr P was not put off during the recent ‘Circuit breaker’ and continued to stay in contact with the team until he was able to attend the office again.
The volunteering placement with Working Denbighshire is allowing Mr P to gain valuable experience within an office setting, furthers his skills in marketing and social media and is able to learn increase his ICT skills, all of which are transferable skills that can lead to paid employment. During the placement, Mr P will continue to be supported by myself as his mentor and by the wider Working Denbighshire team within the office to ensure he gets the most out of the experience. He is also going to be completing a qualification in Customer Service and Social Media alongside the placement.
Mr P has shown great determination and motivation during his time being on Communities for Work. His mentor has supported him at a pace he is comfortable with and had adapted well to the support during the pandemic to ensure he was still able to progress towards his goal of employment.
A statement from Mr P:
“Having Asperger’s and struggling with confidence/social anxiety issues for many years I have always struggled with finding or holding employment. I finally overcame the social anxiety but my confidence was still lacking. The job centre put me in touch with Working Denbighshire who have been a really big help for me.
I have always wanted to work in an Admin/Office setting but lacked the experience or the qualifications plus lack of confidence was a barrier. I set myself a challenging goal not knowing how to achieve it but knowing if I put my mind to it I will achieve it.
A great quote from Napoleon Hill (success through a positive mental attitude, think & grow rich and other great books) I would like to share that I love and has inspired me.
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
After gaining qualifications online my confidence rose a little and my next step was to find volunteering work to get the experience and build my confidence to prepare me for getting into full time work.
My Communities for Work mentor helped me shape my CV geared towards office work and I started a confidence course which has really helped me see my self-worth and what I am capable of. The best surprise to come next was being offered a volunteering role in Admin/social media with Working Denbighshire.
It’s been an amazing experience so far and my confidence has shot up, I really enjoy this role and best of all I get to work with my biggest passion, computers and has made me realise that admin/office work is where I want to be. And it’s all thanks to my mentor and Working Denbighshire for the support. Now I have the qualifications, growing experience and my confidence continues to grow, it will only be time before I beat my goal of full time admin/office work.”