New career path – Cindy’s story

Cindy was referred to the Restart Scheme, delivered in South Shields by our supply chain partner, Northern Rights, where she met with her allocated Employment Adviser, Michael for an introductory chat and to welcome her to the service. During her initial appointment, Michael discussed with Cindy the benefits of the service and what to expect on her back to work journey.

Cindy - signed up to the Restart Scheme’s Online Careers Centre, and spoke to Michael about her job goals, and the type of work she wanted to look for. Together they created an action plan, including job search preparation, assessing job sectors and identifying her transferrable skills.

The Restart Scheme assesses a participant’s job readiness, their readiness to change, transferrable skills, followed by an individual action plan created with their allocated Employment Adviser.

Having previous work experience in the leisure and tourism industry, Cindy decided she wanted to change her career path and explore other opportunities and job sectors to gain further experience. During her time on the Restart Scheme, Cindy took advantage of the in-house course available, and completed several courses: Interview Skills, Workplace Ethics, and Effective Job Search, all of which helped improve her confidence and build on her employability skills. From this, Cindy improved her social skills, engaging with other like-minded people, and having an input in discussions and group work.

Our Employer Services Team is on hand to support with local vacancies and sector routeways, and our local Recruitment Managers can source roles that meet local participant needs and skill sets.

Cindy’s Employment Adviser, Michael, said: “After creating a high standard CV with the help of Skills Trainer, Leigh, Cindy felt ready to begin applying for roles. Leigh and I carried out mock interviews, to help build Cindy’s confidence in preparation for the real thing. Later that week, a role became available with part-time hours that would match Cindy’s preferences. Cindy was invited to interview and was later that day offered the job!”

Cindy told us: “I am very grateful for the support that Michael and Leigh have given me, across all the courses that I attended, and for believing in my potential and putting me forward for the role. They are the reason I am back in employment, thank you!”