Supporting young people into new careers

A group of young people at a supported living scheme in Swindon have had some one-to-one support for kick starting their careers thaks to Stonewater and Young Enterprise.

The group of 17-24 year olds were visited by the specialist young people's charity to help them ask questions, find potential career paths and get started with finding a job at a special event hosted by Stonewater and supported by We Are Group.

The session covered:

• Matching personality types with career choices
• CV and covering letter writing
• Preparing for an interview
• Job hunting
• Writing a personal statement for further education

One attendee, who had been left homeless and unemployed at the age of 19, said:

"So there is an end to this – we can move on."

The session also featured short talks by staff where they shared their career stories, including one who used to be a resident.

Jolene Walker, Employability Lead at Stonewater, said: "The young people are at various stages in life, so the delivery had to be flexible, relevant and practical. They were able to practise interview questions and practise speaking out loud. The general vibe was chilled, welcoming, positive and uplifting. It became obvious that the common thread was ‘confidence’ so all tasks were aimed at increasing their self-belief."

"One attendee went from saying that they would never stand up and speak in front of anyone, to an hour later speaking in front of four people."

We Are Group donated a laptop which was given away as a prize for one lucky attendee.