Situation
Steff was referred for Bee Work Ready employability support having struggled to recover from a fracture of his ankle. The result of this was that any role involving long periods of standing or walking would be difficult. Prior to moving to the UK, Steff had been working in the position of operations manager within the tourism and hospitality sector. During his career he had sought progress and studied hard, gaining a bachelor’s degree and completing various management and leadership courses. Other obstacles to achieving his employment goals were lack of confidence in English speaking, limited opportunities within his local area and not having a driving license.
Task
We agreed that the best course of action would be to focus initially on gaining employment in a role that reduced his anxiety around family finances, whilst allowing him to bring his CV up to date after a couple of years out of employment. This would also allow him to develop his English-speaking skills and gain confidence in having workplace conversations. Additionally, this would also increase his network and knowledge of other roles within the industry.
Following this, we would then be able to focus on roles that were more aligned with his experience, skills and aspirations. These included middle management roles that had the potential for progression.
Action
Having gained an understanding of the roles that Steff had worked in, we were able to develop a strong CV that reflects his many skills and potential. He used this to secure a role as a Barista for an internationally known chain of coffee shops, within his local area. Following this, we continued to develop his job searching skills, encouraging him to be both reactive to advertised roles and proactive to discover opportunities that are more difficult to find. He also became confident in tailoring his CV and cover letter to match each role and setting up job alerts with various organisations. To increase his employment options, he also moved to a nearby city, with a far greater number of hospitality venues.
Result
Having started as a Barista, Steff was quickly promoted to team leader, having the responsibility to train and mentor other members of staff. As his confidence in communicating increased, he was also offered the role of assistant manager on several occasions, but he declined as this would be more physically demanding and he was able to explain this to his store manager. Within 6 months of commencing specialist employability support he was offered the position of store manager for another franchise of the same business. He accepted this position and offered the following testimonial.
"After my work accident, I could not find a job for a long time. I found a job in a short time with the great support of SDM Training Services. They gave very effective and solution-oriented training, especially for searching and finding a job suitable for my current situation. I would like to thank Mr. Stuart Miller, an expert in this field, for all the support, motivation and positive approach he provided.
I am grateful to SDM Training Services for staying in touch with me throughout my job search process, sharing with me CV preparation, job search and interview techniques, and all the support from them provided."