Overcoming bullying and anxiety to secure a job
‘H’ was referred into our support through Careers Wales, he had severe anxiety and had struggled in education settings due to bullying. Referred into Communities for Work via Careers Wales, H has moved forward in leaps and bounds and has secured work at Papa Johns which he is extremely excited to start.
H had previously completed his Level 1 in Software development however due to issues with the college he was not allowed to continue onto the Level 2 course. H suffered with bullying at school and so has got low self-esteem and confidence in his abilities. When H was referred into our service, meetings were arranged at the local careers wales centre where he felt comfortable. H had not been applying for work as he did not know where to start.
The engagement ……
To engage H into the project we began to meet at the local Careers Wales centre via one of their workers for support. This allowed H to meet with me in a space he felt comfortable and relaxed whilst he got to know me. H enjoyed anything to do with computers, but also enjoyed spending time outdoors in his garden. H did not know what he wanted to do, he lacked any confidence so the idea of work was slightly overwhelming for him but he knew he needed to start earning money to help his mum out. We initially started to sign him onto UC, this would allow him some money and also some extra support with job searching. I helped with the application and attended his first meetings with him as he would not go on his own.
Once his UC was organised we began talking about what H would like to do, he mentioned his brother was on a course and wanted to know if he would be able to do it too. However, when we looked into it H was too old for that particular course and there was not anything similar without going to college which was too much for H due to previous bullying. This lead us to try and find alternative courses but unfortunately there were none available that were suitable for H. From this we started to focus on work, we completed his C.V together ensuring all his skills were up to date and it showed him off when applying for positions. We then started applying for roles, H did not mind what type of work as long as it was local to him and it was something that interested him.
Alongside applying for jobs we started to look at other options including the Work Start Scheme. An opportunity with the IT department became available through the Work Start Scheme. With H previous college qualification, he was really interested in the position so we started the application process. We worked together to get H ready for the pre-screening and the interview. H went for the interview however was not successful in gaining the paid placement but was successful in gaining an unpaid opportunity within IT. This was all set up however due to staffing issues for IT the opportunity was put on hold. This was a blow for H but he understood that the opportunity is still available. This lead us to look at other options and see what other opportunities were coming up. As it was now January lots of the local caravan parks were beginning their recruitment drives for the holiday season. H was really interested in some of these opportunities and we talked about the different roles that could be available. I also explained how the holiday parks carry out their recruitment and that they tend to have a recruitment day that you attend and you can talk to a number of sections with jobs available.
H was unsure about this process but also it did not put him off, he decided he wanted to go to the recruitment day. So we discussed the roles and H was interested in the cleaning, reception and catering roles that were going to be available. H went along with his C.V and in his interview clothes on his own, this was a huge step for H to attend something new by himself. After the recruitment day I spoke to H and he explained it had gone well and he was pleased with himself for attending. He spoke to someone for the reception roles, Papa John roles and bar roles.
After waiting a couple of weeks H heard back from Papa John’s asking him in for another meeting, he went along and they offered him a position. H was over the moon and really excited about starting work. H was thrilled that he had managed to build up his confidence to attend the recruitment day himself and through support from myself for interview prep and interview clothes that H felt comfortable in he secured the position.
Outcomes
When I began working with H I believed that our journey together would have taken longer due to all the barriers he faced. However, through persistence and motivation from H he has surpassed even his own expectations and secured work. H has overcome his anxiety of new people and new places and has worked extremely hard with every task given to him. He would practice and practice his interview techniques to ensure he felt as confident as he could be going into interviews. This has shown with this case study that perseverance and motivation plays a key factor in overcoming barriers. By not letting the bumps overcome him, H kept picking himself up and moving forward until he reached his end goal of securing work.