Amanda

Amanda – 18yrs - had been unemployed for 6 months, looking and applying for jobs on a daily basis with no luck. During this time she has been claiming Jobseekers Allowance and becoming increasingly disheartened and disillusioned, finding it difficult to believe she will find a job.

Because of being out of work for such a long period of time, Amanda had lost a lot of confidence and the thought of going through an interview process was a daunting prospect. She had also lost confidence in her skills and abilities to carry out the role.

Amanda was then told about the opportunities offered by Team East for Skills and joined Zinc on a number of projects, taking part in art activities and also assisting artist and project workers with administrative duties. Talking to her advisor at JobCentre Plus, Amanda found out about the Future Jobs Fund – a government initiative for 18-24yr old to gain employment within a chosen sector for up to 6 months. As Zinc were offering a number of positions including receptionist/admin assistant, Amanda decided she was interested and so apply for a position. She was very nervous about the interview but was successful in the application and was offered a 6 month position as receptionist/admin assistant. Prior to the position starting. Amanda, and all the other successful Future Jobs applicants, attend an induction and training programme to gain information about the company and the work they would be involved in. This along with attending the project activities enabled Amanda to successfully gain her Bronze award for Team East for Skills

Amanda has really enjoyed her job at Zinc and is ‘so happy to be part of Team East and of Zinc’. She found that everyone was really helpful and supportive and this, along with the training given by Team East for Skills and on-the-job training, has ‘given me my confidence back to be able to go into another job with no doubts and to be successful’

Due to the contract only being 6 months, Amanda has been taking part in further employability training, and has been applying for jobs. Having built her confidence and gained advise on interview technique, Amanda was less nervous about new interviews and has been successful in securing employment in care support, a field she always wanted to get into and is due to start this in October.

Amanda says:
Team East for Skills has benefitted me as I have had intensive training in employability, 6 months experience in admin/reception to add to my CV and the support I needed which will now give me more of a chance to be successful in a job.