Debbie was referred to Conwy Employment Hub from Working Wales as her confidence and self-belief had suffered while working at her previous employer due to a toxic environment.
As soon as the referral was processed, Lorraine was appointed to be Debbie’s mentor and the pair met up within days. It was clear to Lorraine that Debbie’s last role had seriously dented her confidence so she was able to stress that she would offer her one-to-one support and help her in every way to get back into work while emphasising that Debbie had taken a proactive and positive step to her future by ending her last employment.
With two teenage children and a husband that works away, Debbie has always been able to work round her children’s needs, and with a wealth of experience having worked in hospitality, hair and beauty, catering and as a Teaching Assistant, Lorraine was able to highlight to Debbie that she has a vast range of skills that are easily transferable giving her plenty of work/career options. This though presented a dilemma for Debbie as she didn’t know what she wanted to do apart from knowing that she wanted a job that would fulfil her.
Lorraine’s first steps with Debbie were to help her apply for benefit support as until then she hadn’t been receiving anything and that the money, even in the short term, would help her be more independent, while also working on her CV. Setting out her experience, showed Debbie how much she has to offer employers and for the first time, Debbie was able to smile and be confident about her future.
Lorraine arranged for Debbie to meet up with Alice, the Hub’s Employer Engagement Officer and working together, they were able to help and support Debbie in applying for jobs. A vacancy for a Library Assistant role within Conwy County Borough Council came up and Alice helped Debbie complete the application process and in no time she was invited to an interview. Initially Debbie was nervous about the prospect but Lorraine and Alice held a number of mock interviews with her to give her much needed practice but also confidence in answering questions while also providing additional tips on the way to answer questions. The interview was successful with Debbie being offered the role. In the meantime though Debbie had also applied for a job with a local estate agent and had been successful in that interview that she went on to complete a work trial and to her surprise she was also offered that job. With two varying job offers, Debbie weighted up both and decided to take the Estate Agent’s job as it gave her the opportunity to work in a completely different environment while enabling her to develop a career.
Debbie keeps in touch with Lorraine and Alice and is loving her new job which has made a positive difference to her confidence and outlook on life.
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