Overcoming Barriers

A jobseeker left school at the age of 13 and previously had no employment history. This jobseeker had no confidence in himself when he started with The Personnel Group (TPG). He attended with his mother for his first couple of appointments. During these appointments, the jobseeker barely spoke and his mother was quite degrading and negative about the jobseeker’s behaviour and his abilities. The jobseeker’s Employment Consultant (EC) could see she was going to be a barrier to him finding and sustaining employment, so it was suggested that he attend on his own. This proved to be the best thing for the jobseeker as he started to engage with his EC and now attends appointments by himself and does not miss any. The jobseeker engages and complies with any requests from his EC.

Having no employment history, the jobseekers EC suggested he train for Traffic Management, as he would not need to interact with too many people, thus addressing his Social Anxiety. However, the first hurdle was to obtain a white card. The jobseeker attended the office to complete the online course and now had to observe and answer questions in his own words, which was very difficult for the Jobseeker as he has a lack of education after leaving school at age 13. The jobseeker required the assistance of his EC and another staff member to help read and answer the questions. There was also a video that needed to be submitted and after several attempts to record the video, it was finally submitted and the jobseeker passed.

At the jobseeker’s next appointment the EC presented the jobseeker with his certificate. The jobseeker became emotional and started to cry and stated he had never done anything like this, he did not think he could.