Overview
James was a ‘mature’ client with a physical disability who still wanted to work after redundancy.
His adviser helped him build self-awareness and see that he had wider options.
He became more confident and open-minded.
After some focused job searching – he got himself the part-time paid job he wanted.
He can now look forward to a more financially secure retirement when it does arrive.
The full story
James is a man with a long work history. He once worked for an oil and gas company as a pipe-coater. He had an accident at work which resulted in him losing a limb – his right leg in fact. This career was over for him.
James has a strong work ethic though, so losing a leg didn’t stop him wanting to get another job. He went on to work in two or three assembly line production jobs, each for a long spell. However, he was made redundant, not for the first time, and had been out of work for almost two years when he came to Into Work.
I’m sure James would be happy to be described as one of our more ‘mature’ clients and so was a little hesitant about the effort it might take to find the right job. He was also wary of being ‘pushed’ into something inappropriate. But he had come to the right place. Into Work’s service is all about the person.
James’ adviser went into some depth with him about what his skills were to establish the real breadth of his experience – beyond his employment history – and so widen his options.
There wasn’t much scope around manufacturing or assembly in the area for him. This was partly because he was now looking for part-time hours, but he was encouraged by the discussions around his ‘hidden talents’, with DIY for instance, and persuaded to look at other things. He did have some rejections and wanted to give up but our Welfare Rights Adviser assessed his situation and existing disability benefits and advised that even part-time work would make a distinct difference to his pension circumstances when he eventually did retire.
His employment adviser reassured him and used different ways to approach applying for jobs to help him get around possible discrimination or rejection due to competition from other candidates.
James applied for a job with a trade tool and hardware retailer. He had tried applying to them himself before but was thwarted by the online recruitment process. His adviser helped him make a direct approach to his preferred branch. A simple move and worth a try. They could have said no – applications have to be done online. However, the branch manager was pleasantly surprised by this effort and show of enthusiasm and invited James to interview.
He was offered the job the same day.
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