Families come in all shapes and sizes, and so does our support!
Our new intern, Justas, knows all about the support on offer at Better Jobs, Better Futures, but did you know that his brothers have also crossed paths with our team and benefitted from our support along the way?
Oldest sibling, Karolis, had been working as a Junior IT Technician for Gower College Swansea when he first met the Futures Team, who run the college’s Employment and Enterprise Bureau. With a keen interest to progress to an IT Technician position, but unsure about the application and interview process, Karolis met with a Career Coach for support to develop his knowledge, skills and abilities. With 1-2-1 coaching and mentoring, Karolis gained confidence, learnt valuable new skills and submitted an excellent application for an internal progression opportunity. Karolis was invited to interview for the role, and after extensive preparation and regular mock interviews with the Futures Team, he performed exceptionally well and successfully secured a promotion to IT Technician!
“The work that you’ve done with Karolis has clearly paid off. It really was a superb interview, and the three of us on the panel all commented afterwards that it was like a different person in comparison to his previous interview. He was calm, clear, very professional, and addressed each question concisely including a good level of relevant information and examples whenever appropriate. He did a fine job, scored very well indeed, and was successful in gaining a promotion from Junior IT Technician to IT Technician. The whole team is really pleased with the outcome.
Many thanks for your help with this process, and for making a really significant difference to Karolis and the Computer Services Team.” – Richard Thorne, former Computer Services Manager
Karolis’ younger brother, Laimis, was a frequent visitor to the Futures Hub during his year as Gower College Swansea’s Student Union President. An outgoing and sociable character, Laimis regularly dropped in to the Hub for advice from the coaches and to chat through his upcoming proposals. After his term as SU President came to an end, and following the advice and support from the Futures team, Laimis decided to re-enrol as a student at the college to study Business. Laimis found the support from the team particularly useful in exploring his options, and as a result, he felt more able to make informed choices based on his circumstances. After his positive experience and knowing the range of benefits from receiving support, Laimis referred his younger brother Justas to the Futures team for help with exploring his options and planning his own career journey.
Youngest sibling, Justas, first came to the Futures team for support with securing a part-time job to run alongside his Business course at Gower College Swansea. With big ambitions of working in the real estate industry, Justas was keen to kick-start his career journey and gain valuable transferrable skills to prepare him for the world of work. Justas received support from the Futures team to search for suitable job opportunities and improve and tailor his CV to relevant roles of interest. Justas made quick progress and was invited to interview for a part-time retail position where he made an excellent impression at his interview and successfully secured the role. But the support didn’t stop there! Justas was keen to keep pursuing his goal of working in real estate, and the team were eager to help him explore his next steps and set him on the best path to achieving his dreams. Justas decided that he wanted to gain experience in a customer focused environment where he could also enhance his administrative and organisational skills, and so he decided to pursue a new opportunity. Recruitment Consultant Sarah suggested that he consider a summer internship being offered by the Better Jobs, Better Futures programme, supporting marketing and administrative activity across a suite of projects. Justas jumped at the chance, completed an excellent application for the role and was quickly invited to interview. With individual preparation and regular mock interview practice with Sarah, Justas hugely impressed the panel with his positive attitude, inspiring ambition and willingness to learn and successfully secured the internship.
Justas started his role in July and has been a fantastic asset to the team; he has already gained a huge amount of transferrable skills and has discovered a love and talent for organisation and administration tasks through his time working with the reception team. Justas is gaining valuable work experience every day and is well on the way to obtaining his future career goals. The team are delighted to have Justas on board and will continue to provide ongoing support to ensure he achieves his dreams.
“The coaches I worked with were so helpful and passionate about their work, and they made sure that I reached my ideal job destination. BJBF has really helped me get the job I wanted and I couldn’t be more grateful.” – Justas
To find out more about the support that Better Jobs Better Futures can offer, contact the team on 01792 284450 or info@betterjobsbetterfutures.wales.
