Restart Scheme
After 17 years in a job, Chris was devastated when he was made redundant in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. This was followed by a year of countless job application rejections which severely knocked his confidence.
When Chris was referred to the Restart Scheme, his Job Coach Nikki from the Scheme’s partner PeoplePlus instantly identified that he needed to mould his CV to appeal to employers and helped him to do this. She also showed Chris how to format a covering letter and tailor it to different employment opportunities in the field he was interested in.
However, just as Chris was making progress, he suffered another blow when a close family member passed away. He was granted a short-term exemption by his Job Centre Work Coach to take some time out, but such was his determination to find work, he resolved to continue his search for employment through the support of the Restart Scheme.
Seeing just how motivated Chris was, Nikki was even more determined to help him achieve his goal. She was keen to dig deeper to find out why Chris was struggling so much at interviews. With a rapport built, Chris felt he could confide in Nikki about a major trauma earlier on in is life, which had a major impact on his confidence and was affecting his interview performance. Describing the emotional rollercoaster he experienced when invited to an interview, it became clear he became extremely anxious when it came to answering questions from employers and this resulted in him being feeling ‘frozen’.
With this insight, Nikki sourced specialist coaching to provide Chris with strategies that would enable him to take control and present a strong and self-assured impression to an employer. After a few sessions, Nikki noticed a marked improvement in Chris’ performance and confidence.
This work paid off when Chris was offered a job as a Production Operator at a local bottled water company.
Nikki was delighted to hear the news. She said:
