It’s important to me that everyone who wants to work is able to have that opportunity. During my life I have spent a lot of time working within recruitment, speaking with people on an hourly basis who so desperately wanted to earn an honest living but who unfortunately were being over looked when it came to landing a job. One of the most frustrating things to hear, this mainly goes for the huge amount of people under the age of 24 who are unemployed, is “come back to us when you have some experience”. Constantly candidates would say to me how can I get experience if no one will give me a chance, this got me thinking. I got in touch with a local job centre to find out how ITS could help support this problem and was told about the work experience scheme. This is how it works, we are able to interview candidates who are looking to gain experience in various area’s and once a match is found this person will become part of our team for 9 weeks. The job centre covers expenses, we gain an extra pair of hands and they gain the experience that future employers so desperately want to see on their CV.  This really is something which we can do internally to offer someone the opportunity to change their lives, experience really is priceless. I was quite surprised that no one from the job centre had been in touch with ITS before to sign us up as for us it really is a win win situation. If I hadn’t of picked up the phone life in our office today would be quite different. – Gemma Asquith, Events Co-Ordinator ITS

Leaving the bubble of University life after three years can be daunting, at least this is how I felt. I was lucky enough to have a job within my Students’ Union during my final year which I thought stood me in good stead for heading into the big wide world and finding a job, but this wasn’t quite the case.

After what felt like hundreds of job applications had been sent and, for want of a better word, rejected I finally went to the job centre and ‘signed on’. There is a stigma attached to this and I certainly held off from going for this very reason, stupidly thinking I was going back a step in my quest to find a job. A few weeks in, however my lovely contact at the Job Centre had found me some work experience.

This work experience was 9 weeks at ITS learning the ropes and gaining administration skills which would help me progress and hopefully help me to find a job afterwards. I assisted with organising everything that needed to go up to the trainings and eventually felt confident enough to answer incoming calls. I definitely gained a lot of confidence and thanks to the support of Gemma and Clare I was offered a part time opportunity which lead to a full time position. I definitely didn’t expect this when I came in as a nervous graduate looking for experience!

Finding a job isn’t at all easy – You need experience but a lot of the time without any experience at all no one will take you on. Where on earth are you meant to begin? It’s a non-stop circle if no one is willing to give you a chance. Without going to the Job Centre I wouldn’t have had the 9 week opportunity with ITS and might never have gained the experience needed to progress. It’s a brilliant scheme which gave me a chance at the working world! – Alexandra Mersey, Administrator ITS

Having Left school unsure of what career I wanted to pursue, I started work at a roofing company. Being seventeen and having regular money seemed great at the time but after a year I decided that it was not something I wanted to do long term and started to look for other jobs. Thinking it would be easy to find a job I was left frustrated and disheartened after applying for many but not getting anywhere due to my lack of experience. I finally decided to sign on with my local job centre to see if they could help with my situation and aid me in getting a job. After speaking with my advisor about how hard I am finding it with little experience he suggested that there are work placements that offer experience with expenses paid for which sounded like a good opportunity.

I am currently half way through and have already gained valuable knowledge. I am now comfortable speaking with customers and potential clients on the phone and have learnt the basis of administrative skills. I am pleased that I took advantage of this placement and feel optimistic that it will help me find employment in the future. – Jack Plues, Currently on work Placement with ITS