I contacted the National Careers Service in November 2021. I was working as a Care Giver in the local community, but I wanted to move into an admin role and needed some support with developing my CV and job searching.
I was working for a local care agency on a zero-hour contact and although I did have some regular clients, my hours fluctuated and had recently dropped down to 15 hrs, which just wasn’t enough.
I really enjoyed working in care, but unfortunately it was starting to take a toll on my health; I was experiencing some issues with my knees working in what can be a very physical role and I was concerned about potential longer-term effects if I continued in that career.
My adviser, Amanda, talked about how to gain new skills and experience via volunteering and online qualifications to change the direction and focus of my CV. In my working life, I’ve had a variety of jobs in different settings – Barista, Teaching Assistant, Residential Support Worker, Food Technician, and Registered Childminder, to name just a few. Amanda helped me to understand that this diverse career had given me broad experience and many transferrable skills – for example, I’ve always enjoyed working with people, I have strong organisation skills and experience of working with complex needs and adapting my approach.
We also discussed what support I needed – I was lacking relevant, up-to-date office experience. As a result I sometimes felt overwhelmed when reading a job description and felt I might not be capable of the job. Amanda discussed how I could use volunteering to gain relevant experience and arranged for me to meet the CEO of a local organisation to discuss volunteering there.
As a result, I started a volunteering placement working as a receptionist, to build the relevant experience I needed. I was very quick to learn new systems and procedures and fitted in extremely well as part of the team. After that, I was able to update my CV to reflect the volunteering role, which improved the relevance of my CV for admin roles.
I applied for a role at a local solicitor as a Receptionist. Amanda helped me to prepare for the interview and I got the job! I start my new role in June 2022, and I couldn’t be happier.
The National Careers Service provides free, up to date, impartial information, advice and guidance on careers, skills and the labour market in England to anyone aged 13 and upwards. To speak to a National Careers Service adviser, call 0800 100 900 or use our webchat. Lines are available from: 8am – 8pm Monday – Friday, and 10am – 5pm Saturday
