First career in care – Lacey’s story

When Lacey joined the Restart Scheme, she felt very shy and brought a family member to her initial appointment. Aged 18, she had never been in paid employment before and was unsure on the career path she wanted to follow.

“I assured Lacey that we could explore job sectors and discuss what is involved in these roles to give her a better idea of what to expect”, said Employment Adviser, Lauren. “When discussing various job sectors, we identified that Lacey was interested in a role in care, however, it was apparent we needed to support her with confidence building.”

Our team of skilled Employment Advisers are on hand to discuss transferable skills, identify existing skills and assess how they can be applied to current labour market opportunities.

With Lauren’s support, Lacey enrolled onto several in-house courses that focused on supporting her with interview skills, job searching, and transferable skills. Coming together with other like-minded people in a group setting boosted Lacey’s confidence and gave her the opportunity to interact with others and share ideas.

Lauren told us: “I was able to pop in and out of the sessions to ensure Lacey was comfortable and getting on okay with the sessions. Seeing the positive changes to her confidence, and the employability skills that Lacey has gained from each workshop has been a pleasure. Lacey shared that the courses were helpful, and she was glad to have taken part.”

The Restart Scheme offers various in-house courses that support with employability skills and job sector taster days to give participants an insight into what they can expect from the roles they are interested in. This enables participants to find sustainable jobs that work for them.

On the completion of the CV workshop, Lacey put her new CV to use by applying for a role in care work. With Lauren on hand to support her throughout, her application was successful, and she was invited to interview. Lauren and the Recruitment Manager prepared Lacey with mock interviews, to provide practice and boost confidence in an interview setting.

“Lacey was offered the job and began training shortly after. We were able to support her financially to get her suitable footwear for starting work”, said Lauren.

Lacey said: “My new job is going well, and I really like it. My confidence has improved since joining the Restart Scheme, and I would like to thank Lauren and the team for their help.”