Case Studies
See below for some inspirational case studies of nextstep clients - showing how nextstep has helped them, and how they've helped themselves!
- Julian - taking control of his career
- Suzanne - it's never too late to change career
- Alice - opening new doors with nextstep and Skills Accounts
- Margaret - From Nanny to Nurse - achieving ambitions
- Adam - new skills for a career change
- Jacqui - returning to work in a new career
- Wayne - getting practical experience
- Rosemary - lone parent returning to work
- Santhia - single parent looking for work after redundancy
- Steven - gaining new skills for a new career
- Nicola - improving skills for a new career
- William - overcoming obstacles to find employment
- Paul - Graduate changing career in the recession
Julian
Julian, in his early 20’s, came to Canterbury College for an IAG Interview to discuss his future.
He had been to a private school, had gone onto university to study photography but had dropped out after a year. He needed help making a decision about what to do next as he was unsure whether to undertake further education or look for a job with the skills he had.
Since leaving university Julian had travelled, volunteered and worked using his skills. His Dive Master qualification enabled him to teach scuba diving and his sailing skills and qualifications enabled him to work with the Prince’s Trust and the Jubilee Sailing Trust. Julian also promoted events such as parties and taught rugby in Damascus. He loved this life but had regretfully decided it would not give him the future he wanted yet did not know what his future should be apart from knowing he needed to enjoy and be fulfilled by his career.
Julian opened a Skills Account with his nextstep adviser and found it very useful. The Skills and Interests Assessment Tool, Career Search, Job Profiles and frequently asked questions including funding queries were perfect for him to use. He loved the site and said it would help him very much.
On reflection Julian realised he had more skills than he thought and many more career options. He researched options in teaching, careers advice and equality & diversity work. He left the session in a very positive frame of mind with a plan to explore the site further and to attend university and college open days to do further research.
Suzanne
Suzanne is 46 and lives with her husband and two daughters aged 5 and 7. After her husband was left unable to work following an accident at work, Suzanne considered whether she should go to work as the main breadwinner while her husband focused on the childcare. She had been doing some voluntary work at her children’s school and was keen to pursue a career along these lines but was not sure how to go about it.
Suzanne’s local Job Centre Plus put her in contact with nextstep where she met her adviser, Juliet. Juliet reviewed Suzanne’s CV and discussed her ambition to become a Teaching Assistant and showed Suzanne that she could achieve it. Suzanne also learned that with her experience, she would be able to go straight to the NVQ Level 2 Teaching Assistant Course. Juliet also provided Suzanne with encouraging feedback on her essay assignment to get onto the course.
Suzanne is currently on the NVQ level 2 Course and as well as the voluntary work, is also getting paid for some of her Teaching Assistant work. She is due to complete the NVQ in July 2010 and hopes to work full time after this.
“Juliet really gave me confidence to believe that I could achieve this and steered me in the right direction, says Suzanne. I really can’t thank her enough.”
Alice
Alice is a single mother who came for a guidance interview at Canterbury College for help kick starting her future. Alice was unaware that courses had started 5 weeks before and that she was a little late to apply for this year. In addition, Alice thought her qualifications, 6 GCSE at grades D to F, were not good enough to get started. Moreover, Alice was worried about paying for any further education and the impact this could have on her benefit entitlement. Alice was very interested in becoming a Social Worker or Teaching Assistant.
During the guidance interview Alice opened a skills account and explored some of the job descriptions with the adviser. Slowly and tentatively it emerged that Alice’s career choices needed more thought. A further guidance session was booked allowing time for reflection.
Alice attended a second guidance session and walked in with a beaming smile saying she was sure the results of her reflection were going to be a shock. Alice then disclosed that she had always wanted to be a hairdresser and that she had realised that her creative nature needed fulfilment and that a career in hairdressing would open up her opportunities as she could move to America to be near her father and that her job skills would be just as useful there. Furthermore, Alice had realised that she could not cope with the stress of the type of job she had originally been thinking of.
After a successful discussion about funding Alice was put in touch with the head of Hairdressing courses at Canterbury College. Alice is currently waiting to see if she is able to join a course this year but if not she is already planning to enrol next year.
Margaret
When Margaret initially moved to the UK from Ghana, she took a job as a nanny and domestic worker for a private household, working 7 days a week. She was earning £70 a week plus free food and board. She wanted to study and further her education but was not sure how to go about it and the hours she was expected to work made it difficult to pursue her ambitions.
Margaret then came across the nextstep service when she visited the connexions centre about how she could further her education, six years ago. It was there she met her nextstep adviser, Anna.
“Anna was very helpful and has always been” says Margaret. “She helped me find all the necessary information, such as what financial support was available and she helped me apply for the CACHE level 2 certificate in Childcare and Education part - time for a start.“
In 2005, Margaret’s service as a nanny came to an end but by this time she had already enrolled on the course. She had met a new friend who kindly agreed to rent her one of her bedrooms and backdate her rent until she found a job. As part of her new course, Margaret had to do a work placement where she build up great relationships with her Manager and the rest of the staff. She was then offered a job as a Nursery Assistant and worked 8am - 6pm and then went to College twice a week 6pm- 9:15pm on top of this.
With Margaret’s effort and dedication, she passed her exams with Distinction and was awarded the ‘Best Student of the Year’, a fantastic achievement.
After gaining her Level 2 Certificate, Margaret was promoted to acting room supervisor and that motivated her to take on the CACHE level 3 which now enables her to work as a qualified room supervisor in a day nursery.
Margaret is now married with a young son. She is very keen to embark on a nursing career because she has always wanted to be a qualified children’s nurse.
Speaking of her experiences with nextstep, Margaret says: “Anna from nextstep has been my rock. I will therefore recommend next step service to anyone who needs to find out what the future holds for them. They were able to help me and I am sure they will help you too.”
Adam
Following a presentation by the Jobcentre Plus at his employer’s site, Adam was referred to nextstep by the Jobcentre Plus. He was being made redundant from his role as a Warehouse Team Leader at Wincanton, Milton Keynes. He initially met with Caroline Eagling, Rapid Response Service Manager, from the Jobcentre Plus who made him aware of the Rapid Response Service (RRS) Job Focused Training Fund (JFT), which can provide funding for training for individuals, who have lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn/redundancy that will assist them in regaining employment.
Prior to meeting with nextstep, Adam had fully explored his career options and concluded that due to the economic downturn the number of opportunities in his current line of work had been greatly reduced. When he came to nextstep, Adam had already decided that he would like to retrain as a Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineer/ Heating and Ventilation Fitter. He had researched the field and believed it was a sustainable form of work. Adam had friends and family who already worked in this field who he knew would be able to offer him employment. He was happy to commit to training full-time, and willing to travel within a 50 mile radius to find work. The help Adam was looking for was to find a suitable course which could be funded.
Adam met with his nextstep adviser Kerry Donnelly who put together a Skills Action Plan with him, as required by the Jobcentre Plus, and reviewed Adam’s circumstances, looking at his skills and how he could move forward with his goals. Kerry agreed that she would continue with the research Adam had already started to locate course options, and also put together a claim for funding to enable Adam to retrain and find work.
Once Kerry had collected the evidence and put together Adam’s claim with suggested suitable course options, she then passed this on to Ian Chambers, also of the RRS team, at the Jobcentre Plus.
The Jobcentre checked the claim for Job Focused Training and ensured that it fitted within the parameters of the offer. Thy agreed to fund the chosen Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering Course which they felt was appropriate . The paperwork gone through, and Adam is now eagerly waiting to start his course.
Speaking of his experience, Adam said; “When this goes through I will be over the moon. I’ve put a lot of time into researching this as this is a career I really want. This RSS funding is going to make a real difference in helping me get where I want to be.”
Jacqui
Jacqui was looking to return to work after a career break to raise her family. Once her children were all at secondary school she decided she wanted to do something that was different to jobs she’d had previously, and signed up to attend a course which would give her the necessary skills to do so. Jacqui first heard about nextstep when an adviser visited the college where she was studying and invited her to set up a face-to-face meeting to get some careers advice.
When Jacqui met with her nextstep adviser, she was seeking advice on writing her CV and on where to look for job opportunities that were relevant to her skills. As a result of her nextstep advice sessions, Jacqui changed her CV, short listed organisations she was interested in working for and approached them directly to find out about opportunities.
All of Jacqui’s hard work has paid off and she is about to start a new position at a local college as an Admissions Assistant. Speaking of her experience with nextstep, Jacqui said,
“I feel all the hard work has really paid off. The college was looking for someone with the exact skills that the course has given me and with my revamped CV and advice from nextstep, I felt really well prepared for the interview.. I would definitely recommend nextstep to others.”
Wayne
Wayne is enrolled on a City and Guilds Wood Occupations level 2 at his local College on a full time basis. Wayne has a partner and 3 children and after a long time out of work, he was enjoying learning a trade and looking forward to a brighter future. However, he felt he needed the practical experience and made an appointment with a Nextstep adviser in November 2008. Together, they looked at the electronic version of the Yellow Pages and printed a list of companies in the area. The adviser also updated Wayne’s CV and his covering letter, made photocopies and even provided envelopes to Wayne’s request.
However, 2 weeks later, Wayne came back for advice as he had had no response. Again, the adviser printed more companies by widening the search and printed more covering letters. Wayne returned home with yet more CV to send but a month later, came back. The Adviser suggested Wayne called the companies himself. Wayne used the Adviser’s phone to ring the companies and after the third phone call, he managed to arrange an appointment to visit a company in Whitstable.
Wayne came back to see his Nextstep adviser a week later to let him know he had found a work placement with this company. They even offered to pay for Wayne’s transport which was a bonus.
Wayne is still on his course 3 days a week at College and going to his work placement one day a week. He will complete his course early July this year and is hoping that his work placement will improve his chances to find paid employment following his course.
Rosemary
Rosemary is a lone parent and her son is now at school full time. She came to see her Nextstep Adviser as she felt she needed help with improving her English and Maths in order to be able to help her son with his homework. Rosemary says she was never read books as a child and left school with no GCSE. In September 2008, Rosemary started a basic skills course in literacy and numeracy at her local College.
In February 2009, Rosemary made a further appointment with her Nextstep adviser as she needed help to create a CV. Rosemary decided it was time to come off Income Support and find herself a job as she said “she wanted her son to be proud of her”. With her CV in hand, she started applying for jobs and when she was invited for an interview she went for a further session with her Nextstep Adviser to prepare for the interview as she was very nervous.
Thanks to her determination and help from her adviser, Rosemary now has a job at Burger King part-time. She is still at College studying for her basic skill course in literacy and numeracy.
Santhia
Santhia had worked for B & Q for 15 years and was based in the HR department of the customer services division. This division was then outsourced and the customer service team found themselves being made redundant. Santhia initially brought in nextstep to help the staff losing their jobs and says ‘nextstep was great. I can’t understand why companies would pay for a similar service when they can get it free!’
Santhia, a single parent, also found herself unemployed for the first time in years and was struggling to even get interviews in such a competitive market. She saw her nextstep adviser who helped her with her CV and enabled her to realise her options:
‘Having to look for a job after so many years brought me out of my comfort zone. My adviser gave me the confidence to realise my true potential and helped me broaden my horizons.’
Santhia is now working full-time for the Portsmouth Hospital Trust within their HR department.
Steven
Steven was referred to the nextstep service from the Jobcentre to help him explore his career options. Steven was on long-term sick, due to an injury he sustained whilst working in the manufacturing industry. His injury prevented him from returning to this field of work.
Steven identified with his nextstep Adviser that he needed help with improving his English, Maths and IT skills in order to find suitable employment. Steven also identified that improving these skills would help him assist his children with their homework.
The nextstep Adviser helped Steven look at the different learning options available to him. Steven particularly wanted to study at a Training provider that was local to him and in a classroom environment where there was a Tutor available for support.
The nextstep Adviser found a local Training provider who provided the right courses and suited Steven’s learning style. Steven immediately enrolled on the ‘Skills for Life’ course during his nextstep interview. Steven will start the Skills for Life course in January 2009 and is looking forward to improving his skills in order to make a career change.
Nicola contacted her local nextstep service as she was due to be made redundant and needed help finding a new job. Nicola’s goal was to find a new job that enabled her to work around her children, which she realised could often be difficult to find.
Nicola worked with her nextstep Adviser in order to agree a plan of action which included updating her CV, improving her job-search skills and help with looking at the types of roles which would be flexible around her childcare commitments.
Following her initial nextstep advice session Nicola kept in contact with her nextstep Adviser to review suitable job opportunities and apply for new positions. During this time Nicola was extremely focused on achieving her goal and was very pro-active in her job-search activities. Nicola also enrolled on a CLAIT course in this time in order to improve her computer skills. Nicola’s long-term goal was to find a new job which enabled her to use her new skills.
Nicola contacted her nextstep Adviser to inform her that she had found a new job and had completed her CLAIT qualification. Nicola had also enrolled on the European Computer Driving License course to further improve her IT skills.
Nicola said “I found the service extremely beneficial and supportive and would recommend it to everyone”.
William had been referred to nextstep by Skelmersdale Probation Office, after spending some time in custody.
He faced several obstacles to getting into work as he had little employment history, and no relevant qualifications. He was confused and demotivated about ever finding work.
William's nextstep adviser began by helping write his C.V. and build his confidence by explaining how to use a CV when applying for work or attending interviews. The adviser also helped William put together a covering letter to employers and discussed the best way for him to disclose his convictions.
They decided that attending a Construction Safety Certification Scheme Course (CSCS) would be a good starting point, as it covers a range of subjects, including health and safety. This would allow William to work in a range of environments.
William successfully completed the course and gained the CSCS qualification. With the help of his nextstep adviser he found a full-time job at an ASDA Warehouse.
William's adviser said “William really benefited from nextstep. He now has an excellent CV and disclosure letter, which he feels confident sending to employers.”
“He's very happy in his new job, and we're pleased that we were able to help him get it.”
Paul worked in Japan as an English teacher for three years after leaving University. He returned to the UK in October 2008 to seek a more fulfilling and challenging job and in a tough climate, had been finding it difficult.
He managed to secure an interview with the Ministry of Defence for a role as an Environmental Protection Instructor and was then recommended the nextstep service by the staff at his local Job Centre to help him with his interview skills. This was Paul’s first interview in over three years, so he felt he needed some guidance in order to increase his confidence and make improvements in this area.
Paul initially had reservations about getting advice from nextstep and hadn’t realised how helpful his session would be. He was pleasantly surprised that it really helped and he was offered the job.
Speaking of his experience with nextstep, Paul said:
'Your advice prepared me for a challenging interview which has resulted in provisional job offer for the MOD. I found the discussion on interview techniques and the interview pack very useful and would recommend this consultation for anyone seeking help and guidance to get back to work.'
