To coincide with National Employability Day, Kent-based charity CXK hosted an Employability Day on Friday 29 June at its Ashford head office, aimed at helping NEET (not in education, employment or training) young people from across Kent to build the skills they need to effectively find work.
Visitors on the day, all aged from 16-25 and not in education, employment or training (NEET), benefitted from a jam-packed day of workshops delivered by CXK’s team of careers guidance professionals. The young people received advice and guidance on subjects such as interview skills, body language, social media job searching, and coping with knock-backs; and ended the day with a ‘Work Walk’ around Ashford, which gave them the opportunity to visit local businesses including Lloyds TSB, Next and the Park Club for a talk about each industry and the opportunity to pose questions.
Gill Cahill, Director of Business Development at CXK, spoke of the charity’s reasons for organising the event: “We are still seeing pockets in Kent where unemployment is particularly high, and where young people in particular are struggling to find work opportunities. It is evident to us, from our own research and our experience of the 50,000 people that we support each year, that many people lack confidence and awareness when faced with all aspects of finding and securing a job. We hope that our sessions will provide an opportunity for people to prepare for a job application in the best way possible.”
At the event, participants were coached on how to best engage with other people and professionals, and attended mentoring sessions on how to increase their confidence and aspirations when going into interview situations. They also gained access to valuable resources aimed at helping them to find employment opportunities.
Griffin, 21, Canterbury, who attended the event, said. “It was really interesting, especially Stephen’s presentation about his life story – it was really insightful and inspiring especially to those with disabilities. The things I learned about how to present myself will be of life-long benefit to me.”
