Training into Work and real results
During April, ELBA’s Employment and Skills team delivered a Training Into Work Programme, designed to support local unemployed people with skills development and access to employment. The programme comprises employability training, a work placement and access to employment.
The employability training ran over 5 days and included sessions covering; CV revision, interview preparation and planning including role play, personal financial management and preparation for working in a corporate environment. The training was delivered by our very own Leila Shaw and supported by corporate volunteers from Principle Cleaning, Newham Workplace and Davis Polk, using their expertise to add value to the candidates’ learning experience.
The group was made up of individuals aged between 20-56 with varying degrees of experience; including those that are currently employed but on zero-hour contracts and wanting more job security, those that have been unemployed for between 3-12 months, and those that have not had any work experience at all.
On completion of the 5-day training course, candidates were offered interviews for permanent roles in their chosen occupations. For those requiring a bit more support, Lloyds of London offered work placements across security, catering, cleaning and front of house. On Monday 24th April, 4 candidates started their two-week placements and are already doing very well. For those that excel, we’re confident of a job offer but at the very least, this has been a valuable experience for all, a comprehensive training programme to add to their CV and the ELBA employment and skills team will continue to support their progression into work.
Some quotes from participants:
“I really appreciated the help today, thank you.”
“I found the mock interviews really, really helpful, thank you.”
“The session was very inspiring.”
Leila Shaw, ELBA Employment Works team Project Manager said:
“It was good to get to know candidates over the 5 days and support their development in preparing for employment. Attendance and performance was excellent and I am now able to recommend them to ELBA partners for vacancies. It was also great to have volunteers assisting and sharing their expertise.”
While a volunteer from Newham Workplace, Stephen Gear, said:
“I found the CV Workshop to be a personally and professionally rewarding experience as it was an opportunity to engage with potential job applicants and provide instant feedback, face-to-face. It was refreshing to work on the other side of the coin, using my knowledge and experience of employer led recruitment services to help those applying for jobs. The group itself were full of energy and enthusiasm and were really interested to hear my experience from an employer led perspective and from the break out sessions it was great to see them take the information in and use it constructively to critique their CVs and make adjustments to tailor their CVs specifically to the roles they were interested in.”
