Week 1 (Reset) - Introductions and Ice-Breakers

Youth Into Jobs has been reset to week 1 for a new core group, essentially merging our new and old group.

Kick started the workshop with a game to learn everyones names. First person says an adjective starting with the first letter of their name, followed by their name so our trusty leader started us off with "Amazing Anhar". Next person has to say Amazing Anhar followed by their own version of their name. It gets really interesting near the end when people are being made to recall 14-15 names and adjectives in order, with some attempting to cover up by simply making up new names and adjectives.

Next, Y2J participants were told they would be doing a confidence test (we neglected to tell them it would also test their improvisation and ability to waffle). We split everyone into 2 teams and asked each team to create a poster advertising Youth Into Jobs to the target group they knew best: college students aged 16-19.

Rule number 1: You can only use drawings and numbers for their posters, no words
Rule number 2: You are allowed to explain what the drawings mean

We encouraged both groups to make their drawings as random as possible since they will be allowed to explain them (you'll see why we did this in a minute). Just as they were about to present, we threw in a little twist: both groups were asked to swap presentations and present using the opposite groups subject. There was silence followed by a flurry of activity as both teams looked through the mess of drawings and attempted to work out the meaning behind the opposite teams pictures.

Ruthless Rajina silences the group before launching into her poster pitch

This was a fun little confidence builder and to be honest our new group was surprisingly comfortable explaining these drawings that they were seeing for the first time. I'm wondering if going into presentations under-prepared is a regular occurrence for some... But this was a great sign at this early stage since if you can become good at presenting on something you know nothing about, imagine how good you'll be when you're an expert in the subject matter, i.e. in a job interview talking about yourself.

Super Sebastian confidently explains why there is a random number 24 written on his poster

This new group is full of energy and showing a lot of potential. The next few weeks of solid employment training and workshops should be a lot of fun with them.

If you are aged 16-25 or know of someone of that age looking for employment but getting little success, tell them about Youth Into Jobs!

Week 1-4 - Getting youths into work

Week 1 & 2

The first 2 weeks was mainly about getting to know everybody and finding out what they want and expect from Y2J. Today's job market is a tough one, especially when so many people with more years of skill and experience than our young people are finding it hard to get into work. Anhar's opinion is to see this as a strength, not a weakness. Our group consist of intelligent, young people with clean track records and tons of potential. And there are ALWAYS companies out there who are eager to take on fresh faced, entry level recruits with ambition to rise to the top.

We helped one of our young participants prepare for a job interview which he ended up getting! Wishing him all the best in his new workplace.

Anhar discusses what people want to get out of Y2J

Something interesting that came out of the session is our young people who are new to the interview process have low confidence and sense of self importance at interviews. They see themselves moving forward into bigger and bigger schools before finally transitioning from education to work, always feeling like a small fish in an ever growing pond. 

We'll be tackling this issue further in our upcoming confidence building workshops.

Week 3 & 4

Week 3 & 4 was all about everything that goes into a great CV and cover letter to make it stand out and impress recruiters. 

Terry explaining the importance of making your CV stand out

Here's what our group came up with.

What goes into a good CV?

• Contact details
• Personal statement
• Qualifications
• Skills
• Work experience
• Interests
• References

What makes a bad CV?

• Repetition
• Poor spelling
• Poor layout
• Length
• Lies

Terry brought a copy of his own CV which has had a VERY impressive 100% success rate for getting him to the interview stage! Shout out to Terry for insisting on taking some time out to point out all the many many (many) things wrong with my own CV.
Thanks (-_-)

Two of Y2J's participants have started work experience at Leaders In Community, giving them an invaluable opportunity to gain office skills.

If you are aged 16-25 or know of someone of that age looking for employment but getting little success, tell them about Youth Into Jobs!

Welcome to Youth Into Jobs (Y2J)

Welcome to the Youth Into Jobs blog! 

First off, some background: 

Y2J is being delivered by youth charity, Leaders In Community (LiC). The program came about through a conversation turned debate with Anhar and Terry, both working at LiC, on the difficulties in finding work as a young person. Before they knew it, they were embarking on a journey to work purely with young people aged 16-25, and get them onto the employment ladder. As a recruitment specialist, Anhar is able to share all the tips and tricks of the trade that he has picked up through years of experience in recruitment, whilst Terry brings his experience and passion in Broadway entertainment to build an unshakeable, entertainer-like confidence in all participants. 

Here comes the legal information:

Y2J is funded by The Big Lottery Fund and being delivered by LiC in partnership with John Lewis and the Job Centre Plus. It is a 9 month program aiming to get young people to become job ready and to get into part-time, full-time or summer work. 

To find out more call Terry on 020 7987 8796 or email Terry-lic@live.com. 

Posted by Peter

    

If you are aged 16-25 or know of someone of that age looking for employment but getting little success, tell them about Youth Into Jobs!