Joshua Craig
Joshua is currently single and has been unemployed since March 2019. Due to living on his own and being unemployed Joshua struggled financially to support not only himself but also to provide for his daughter. He said he felt that his inability to secure employment recently was having a negative impact on his wellbeing, and that any support provided in securing future employment would benefit him not just financially, but would also improve his motivation, confidence and health for work. Joshua was made aware that to help us achieve his goal would require one thing in return, commitment, which he agreed to.
Joshua was referred onto the new Dundee City Council Adult Employability Team from our partner (Department for Work & Pensions), where he met myself (David Grant – DCC Employability Officer), with an overview of the employability service provided to Joshua, to help him determine if our service could help with his return to employment. Joshua liked what we as a new service had to offer, taking an immediate interest in the sector specific training academies, which he found really appealing.
So Joshua chose to register with our service (taking advantage of free attendance bus pass travel), immediately attending a local job shop where we first updated his CV, and began looking for suitable vacancies, with the immediate goal being to update Joshua’s digital skills. We next come across a vacancy for Dundee City Council for a traffic warden. The nature of this role requires excellent customer service skills, which Joshua had. In his previous role with BT, he was responsible for taking emergency calls, making decisions and forwarding to the appropriate emergency service. I also found that he had what I believed to be the right demeanour and ability to handle potentially difficult situations. We discussed this and Joshua agreed, with me helping Joshua to complete the application over the next two weeks.
It was at this time that my colleague (Gary Gall – DCC Job Broker) was looking for suitable candidates to engage with a sector specific academy and employer (Halley Stevenson) who were looking for suitable candidates, with Joshua attending the initial sift and also the factory tour, and was awaiting the outcome of this.
My colleague (Joan Cunningham – DCC Financial Assistance), next made contact and arranged to meet Joshua, providing a personal financial health check. This is an essential part of our service, as individuals need to be aware of how certain working hours can impact upon benefit claims, to ensure that it’s financially worthwhile taking up employment.
Joshua next made me aware that he had an interview for the traffic warden position, so I asked my colleagues (Graham Watt and Elaine Ritchie - DCC Employability Officers) if they could provide Joshua with a mock interview and feedback, which they both have experience of doing, and were happy to do. Proper interview conditions were provided, with Joshua being given a list of interview preparation questions for him to answer and prepare for on the day. The mock interview and feedback provided was extremely positive, he was ready for the interview.
Joshua was contacted and offered a permanent contract, and still receives in work support provision.
