As unemployment continues to rise as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, women with convictions face ever greater barriers when trying to secure employment and our support is becoming more and more important.
In September, we met with 16 new women to find out about their career aspirations, work experience and develop a bespoke support plan to help them achieve their goals. Over the course of the month, we held 11 remote workshops attended by 28 individual women focusing on CV building, disclosing your conviction, interview skills, confidence and transferable skills.
Our transferable skills workshop is the newest one in the series. In it, we explore organisation, time management, solution-focused thinking and self-reflection to help women prepare for their job search and interviews. At the beginning of September, we launched our online Employability Toolkit. This means women can now access to videos, articles, and other resources to explore the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to develop their employability anytime, anywhere and from any internet enabled device. It’s proved extremely popular and we’ve even begun to build it into our virtual workshops!
Our recruitment team have been busy too, focusing on reaching out to new employers and expanding the range of jobs we are able to offer women who access our services. In September, we supported six women into work. One woman will be starting as a support worker at a homelessness charity and another found work as a care assistant in London. In addition, a woman who we’ve been working with for a long time to build up her confidence and employability, was offered a job at an ethical tampon company and is extremely excited!
To finish, here’s a quote from Natalia, who recently found a role as a key worker through Working Chance:
“Working Chance is really really, really good! I was so disheartened before I talked to you. You’ve made such a massive impact on my life. It’s not just about finding a job with you guys, you help build women’s confidence too.
My consultant was a big help, she spoke to me every day, with the job search, asked whether I needed help, and was there for me in every aspect. There are times when you feel down or unsure, and she was there.
It’s easier applying for a job with Working Chance. It acts as a buffer, because you know that the employer knows about your criminal record and that you are receiving support from Working Chance.”