Business and Charity combine to help with jobsearch skills

Norfolk businesses and a local charity have combined to support adults with disabilities gain valuable job search skills.

Five adults with learning disabilities accessed the Jobsearch Skills workshops through the Norfolk based BUILD Charity, who teamed up with senior managers, and owners of Norfolk businesses to pass on their experiences, and provide mock job interviews to candidates for a fictitious role.

The workshops were designed by BUILD Charity’s Chief Executive, James Kearns, and co-hosted with Teresa Kelly, Business and Education Consultant with Talk Enterprise. Over a four week period, the workshops explored issues ranging from choosing the kind of job to aspire to, exploring where jobs are advertised, selling yourself as an applicant, building a CV and experiencing an interview.

Each session was inter-active and involved testimonies from people in local businesses. The final session saw four local business managers host 15 minute selection interviews for a fictitious role. Stephen Ferrey (MoCo), Ian Woodley (Quartz Healthcare), Richard Buck (John Lewis Partnership) and Anne Francis (Carnival Consulting) each interviewed two candidates, and provided positive feedback, as well as areas where candidates could improve their applications and techniques.

So impressed was one business leader, Anne Francis, of Carnival Consulting, that she offered some temporary work to one of the candidates after the interview.

BUILD Charity’s Chief Executive, James Kearns said “The partnership working with colleagues in the business world made the whole experience real for participants, who got real feedback, from real employers, not just a table top exercise. The added confidence and aspiration experienced by people taking part was significant.”

The workshops had been free to access, thanks to funding from a Norwich based Charitable Trust but the low take up of places had come as a surprise to organisers. James Kearns said “In the current economic climate, where people with disabilities are finding it even harder to get on the jobs, and careers, ladder we expected to be inundated with people wanting to access these workshops, but in the end only half the places were filled. We have some funding to run a second series of workshops in the autumn, if the demand is there, so would welcome expressions of interest from people with disabilities, their carers or supporters, before setting a date.”

The BUILD Charity was established in Norwich in 1967 and provides around 400 social, leisure and learning opportunities to adults, and young people, with sensory, physical and learning disabilities each year with activities ranging from a weekly social club, known as The Wednesday Club in central Norwich, two clubs for young people in Norwich and New Buckenham, and arrange of sporting, cultural and healthy living activities across the county. For more information visit www.buildcharity.co.uk