Jack’s Story
Welcome to Jack’s Story – a story of how we helped Jack, and others like him, find a job with purpose!
The story began 3 years ago when we were delighted to be invited to become delivery partner for the Cornwall People Hub – a Cornwall Council initiative. Cornwall, although beautiful, is also one of the most deprived areas in Europe. Thus, the People Hub served as a much-needed one-stop-shop within the complex employment support landscape, managing and coordinating support to meet job seekers needs.
But what we bought to the mix was a little different!
Remote and Hybrid Skills Training
Building on our two decades of smart working expertise, we set up a specialist remote and hybrid skills and employability training team who trained participants in smart skills so they could access a wide range of roles without travelling. In addition, our experts provide training to the participants to build their skills and confidence in approaching this work.
It’s been incredibly successful and we’ve helped over 180 people here in Cornwall find remote or hybrid roles. This case study about Jack explains the impact of the programme on Job Seekers.
Jack’s Story
Jack was a trainee counsellor struggling to find a job that fit alongside his studies. To qualify, he was required to complete a work placement. Whilst he had previously worked in temporary remote roles, finding face-to-face employment was more difficult as he had to rely on public transport. Therefore, remote jobs were Jack’s preferred choice which became more available during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Obviously, online counselling has become a really big thing now so that’s why I wanted to find a job where I could do that remotely.’
To help Jack with this, a Job Centre coach referred him to us. Jack found the programme refreshing. We focus on finding our participants a job in the sector they are interested in….not just any job.
Being able to take part online was very helpful to Jack. He was also pleasantly surprised by the breadth of themes covered throughout the two-week course, including the effective use of LinkedIn, transferrable skills, and keeping up confidence when out of work.
‘It is different from any other course I’d been on before. I kind of went into it thinking it’ll just be the basic interview skills, CV writing, etc. and then I’ll be on my way. But it covered so much more.’
Boosting Confidence
The programme’s inclusive and encouraging approach played a part in boosting Jack’s confidence, who was struggling with his self-esteem. Jack was impressed that everyone was directly invited to speak and join in. This created a supportive environment in which the usually shy participant felt comfortable speaking up.
Another useful feature of the programme was the sharing of vacancies. This made it easy for Jack to apply and opened his eyes to different types of remote working roles he was not aware of before. The support from our team ultimately enabled him to find a job with a purpose.
‘I learnt a lot about my transferrable skills through the programme. I felt like I did have the confidence when the right role came up to apply for it.’
Financial Security
The financial security and flexibility of his new job greatly benefited Jack during the last year of his training. Jack enjoys his job so much that he is motivated to pursue further progression in his role.
‘After the programme, I was aware of what to look for and what keywords to use. I would have found something without them but not exactly what I wanted.’
We can replicate Jack’s Story across other areas of the UK. Are you interested in finding out more about the ‘Cornwall Model’? Please get in touch to find out how we can help your region.
We are about to launch the new version of People Hub and will be helping more people to gain skills that will allow them to apply for remote working roles. If you are a company that is looking to recruit remote workers and would like to find out more, please do contact us.
