Sean, 19 from Alnwick joined Bridge in Feb 2021. Sean is not confident with communication, so searching for work was a challenge for him. After leaving school Sean had never had a job, he had volunteering experience but didn’t know where to start looking for his first job.
Sean was allocated Andrew as his Bridge Worker and an initial meeting discussed what Sean might like to achieve. Andrew started by referring Sean to Citizens Advice for a financial check. Then it was onto BRIC for an IT assessment. Sean had a solid grasp of IT, and required no further training so it was onto the Employment Hub in Alnwick next for support with CV writing and Job searching. Sean, was supported by his Work Coach, Joy at the Alnwick Employment hub. In the weekly sessions Sean built up a good rapport with Joy. Sean created a CV and started to learn job searching skills with Joy’s support.
In July, Andrew and Joy introduced Sean to the Alnwick Grow Into work Programme. The programme run by Alnwick Garden offers a 4 week work experience placement and a guaranteed interview with the gardens if the placement is completed. Andrew thought this was a good opportunity for Sean to gain work experience in various departments. With Joy’s help Sean applied and he was successful in gaining a place.
Sean enjoyed the Alnwick Grow scheme, he gained new experience working in many departments of the Gardens. As he successfully completed the programme in September, he was offered an interview with Alnwick Gardens. He made a good impression with the Alnwick team, but they were sorry there was no vacancy to offer him. Sean had gained valuable work experience from the programme to add to his CV to help in gaining a job.
After his successful completion of The Alnwick Grow Into Work Programme Sean felt confident about the chances of a job. He was motivated to start job searching independently. In October he applied for a Customer Service role at Marks and Spencer using his updated CV. Sean applied and interviewed independently for the role, using the skills learnt at the Employment Hub. Sean was on cloud nine when he was successful and offered a 40 hour weekly contract as his first ever job.
Bridge Worker, Andrew said: “There is no doubt the Alnwick Grow Into Work Programme played an important role in Sean’s progression alongside Bridge Northumberland’s support. In a short period of time we enabled Sean to be able to be competent and confident enough to successfully complete his own job search and applications. We were all delighted that Sean was successful in finding his first job, a massive achievement and we wish him well in his future employment.”
Sean said: “he just wanted to thank the Bridge staff for their help.”
