Working Denbighshire

Jobs Fair

Are you looking for a job or a change in career?

Then Working Denbighshire would like to welcome you along to our Jobs Fair!

At the Jobs Fair, you will get the chance to talk to employers from a wide range of different sectors and get an understanding of what it would be like to work for them.

Working Denbighshire staff will also be on hand to offer advice, guidance and employability support.

Date: Wednesday May 25^th, 2022

Time: 9.30am – 3pm

Place: Town Hall, Wellington Road, Rhyl LL18 1BA.

Work Start Scheme

The Council's Work Start Scheme has offered over 60 placements to Denbighshire Residents providing a valuable insight into the world of employment. Work Start Scheme is a Working Denbighshire approach to developing and building resilient communities in Denbighshire with a sharpened focus on tackling unemployment via paid and unpaid work placements within our own Council.

In light of Covid 19, we have since extended our reach within the Work Start Scheme to micro and small businesses across Denbighshire. During the latest waves of placements, the scheme has been able to offer both paid and unpaid placement opportunities with over 15 businesses in Denbighshire. Many local employers have welcomed this development, allowing them to screen potential new recruits and ensure that new workers have a basic grasp of workplace dynamics before they clock on for the first time.

The scheme is continuing to help local people develop the skills, experience and interests that employers are looking for in an increasingly competitive job market by providing funding to create paid and unpaid work placements in a variety of junior roles within departments of Denbighshire County Council and local businesses. During their participation with the Work Start Scheme each individual is supported by a Placement Officer to access a network of services that supports them in their journey into or towards employments, and to maintain their position or progress once in employment.

Would you benefits from participating in the Work Start Scheme?

Here is how we can help you as part of the Work Start Scheme. We will:

Discuss the placements that we have to offer
Explore interest in potential roles within the Council and local businesses
Confirm eligibility and help candidates meet eligibility criteria
Access funding to assist the placements
Offer placement support for participants
Support with a guaranteed interview schemes
Help with reference commitments for future job applications
Enable training opportunities and help access e-learning
Provide networking opportunities - provide a buddy support system for participants
Develop employability skills
Source work ready candidates for employment
Signpost to services supporting access to further employment.

If you would like more information on how to get involved in the Work Start Scheme please email us at WorkStart@denbighshire.gov.uk.

What participants have had to say about the Work Start Scheme:

I applied for a work placement with Denbighshire County Council to expand my workplace and interview confidence through practical application of relevant skills, gain administration experience with a large organisation and attain a larger pool of references to improve my chances of finding a full time job or career.

My experiences while on the placement were extremely positive, these included building comprehensive team working skills in a high pressure environment and learning about the processes surrounding the Homeless Prevention Team and their implementation. I also enjoyed working with many different types of hard working professionals not only in the Homeless Prevention Team but in Community Support Services as a whole across Denbighshire County Council.

The Work Scheme had an immeasurable impact on my life, allowing me to overcome my depression, give my life a sense of meaning and purpose and provided me with a pathway not only towards a short term job but a long term career as pivotal part of the Homeless Prevention Team.

My message for any individual thinking of a placement:

If you feel as though your working life is stagnating and failing to get off the ground, I cannot recommend the Work Start Scheme highly enough. They provided me with a fantastic level of support which allowed me to develop and showcase my skills in a real world working environment, build confidence and gain tangible experience that has allowed me to start a career that I’m extremely passionate about.

Administrator Placement in Denbighshire County Council

The Job Centre put me in touch with Working Denbighshire. I spoke to a Working Denbighshire mentor via the phone with the goal of finding a job in the IT Sector. They quite quickly asked if I was interested in applying for an Admin role through the Work Start Scheme. Naturally, I said I was interested in the role as I felt this was a good opportunity to get some vital work experience within an office environment.

With this being my first job in an office, there was a level of anxiety regarding starting a job, on top of this I started during a period where the UK was suffering upwards of ten thousand Coronavirus cases a day. I wasn’t just worried about the job itself but also the idea of being around other people. Throughout my time on placement I have been supported directly by my colleagues as well as my Work Start Placement Officer.

My colleagues have helped me to get to understand the role as well as how to operate within a team effectively, they’ve made me feel work ready. My Work Start Placement Officer has helped me to track my progression in the role as well as give me somebody I can talk to should I need to.

The brilliant thing about this Work Start role is that It’s helped to get me valuable work experience in order to get me ready for the next step in my career, which is exactly what I wanted from the role. I went to college to do IT and have since spent the last few years applying for roles in the IT sector. I had previously tended to get through the first interview and then after a second interview told that they liked me but sadly somebody had more experience. This role has put me into the office environment and allowed me to experience working in a team, and given me the confidence to know that I can achieve whatever I set my mind to. Towards the end of my placement I was invited to an Interview for an IT role and have successfully been offered the role following the second interview, which I credit to the Work Start Scheme for allowing me to get the experience I was looking for.

I would highly recommend people take advantage of the Work Start scheme as it allows you to develop yourself in a supportive and understanding environment. I truly believe this opportunity has been a positive experience that has helped me to increase my confidence and make me feel as though I’m back on track towards what I want to achieve.

Admin Support Officer Placement in Denbighshire County Council

Thanks so much for all your help and encouragement, it has helped more then you know.

Receptionist Placement in Denbighshire County Council

Ready?

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.

County Voice: May 2022