Former animal care centre manager, Angela, joined the
Work and Health Programme (WHP) Pioneer in Swindon
Redundancy left Angela feeling low in confidence, she didn’t know who to turn to for support.
With her mental health in decline, Angela spoke to her Jobcentre Plus work coach who referred her to WHP Pioneer.
She recalls feeling nervous before her first WHP Pioneer appointment with her Seetec employment adviser, Charlie in Swindon.
At their first meeting, Angela discussed her current situation, health needs and employment aspirations with Charlie.
After discussing the support available at Seetec, they built a plan of support to fit Angela’s needs.
Health and wellbeing workshops
Charlie arranged training sessions to help Angela improve her mental health and overcome her barriers to employment.
Angela tells us; “I was offered plenty of opportunities to join wellbeing workshops and improve my employability skills.”
Hosted by wellbeing coach, Olivia, the Pluss health and wellbeing workshops helped to rebuild Angela’s confidence.
Pluss is Seetec’s social enterprise; a Community Interest Company which help jobseekers who need the most specialist support to find work.
Having made progress with her sense of wellbeing and confidence, Angela now felt ready to progress her employability skills.
Armed with a strong CV
Angela’s CV needed a refresh, so she turned to employability trainer, Stephen for his expert advice.
Frustrated with the layout and order of her CV, Angela had concerns about the gap in employment caused by the redundancy.
Describing Stephen’s support, Angela says; “Stephen helped me to rewrite my CV so it actually made sense!”
Armed with a strong CV, Angela felt ready to take on the challenges of job searching.
An extra boost
To help Angela in navigating her journey to a new job, Charlie enlisted the support of Swindon team leader, Nikka.
The terrific trio worked together to ensure Angela had plenty of job search assistance and application support too.
Angela attended an interview make-over session with our partners ‘1st Impressions’ who helped her to get ‘dressed-to-impress’ for interviews.
Find out how ‘1st Impressions’ gave Angela’s confidence an extra boost by reading about her interview transformation.
Valuable interview skills
Angela had left her redundancy woes behind as she took huge strides towards returning to work.
As successful applications turned into interviews, Angela knew that the skills she’d learnt from Stephen would serve her well.
Having secured an interview with a local veterinary practice, Angela dazzled the interviewers with her excellent employability skills.
The good news soon arrived, Angela received the job offer from the vets and she finally had the chance to work with animals again.
Angela states; “Stephen has taught me some valuable interview skills and I’m certain this helped me secure the job.”
Perks of the job 
The Seetec Swindon team continued to check-in with Angela as part of Seetec’s in-work support offer, which helps participants sustain employment.
At her in-work check-in, Angela enthused; “The job is going well, the people are really upbeat! I’ve got a lot of training to do and should be able to work towards a qualification too.”
Pleased with the perks of her job, Angela says; “I’ve had at least 20 dogs all over me for cuddles so that is definitely ok!”
With the redundancy now a distant memory, Angela is now buzzing with excitement about her prospects.
Angela sums up; “Without the support and encouragement, I would not be where I am now. Thank you Seetec, I’m so grateful!”
As a token of her gratitude, Angela sent our Swindon team a thank you card with such a lovely message.
Are you facing an uphill struggle after redundancy?
Ask your Jobcentre Plus work coach about the support available in your area.
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