Client's journey to achieving her dream job

I have worked many years with Ways into Work since I was in college doing the life skills course. My first job was work experience in a day nursery and also part-time in Legoland working in food and beverage. With these experiences, I secured 25 hour a week paid employment in a day centre for adults with special needs. My work there included assisting with the different activity groups be it in music, art, sensory group, drama, or as a lunchtime assistant. I loved the work and I worked between two centres, one in Maidenhead and one in Windsor. I travelled independently to both as I don’t live near either. I loved the job, it taught me a lot about different people's needs, and the variety was great as no two days were the same. Sadly, when Covid-19 hit I was made redundant and once again I had to rethink my career choice. I had worked at Gap retail every Friday for a six-hour shift, so my customer skills were up to date.

I began with my job coach to search for new jobs, and eventually, I found some after a few interview refusals. I eventually secured employment at Zara retail store. However this was only seasonal work, I was so happy to start a job where I was meeting people and doing a role I felt familiar with and had knowledge of. After a few months, I was again unemployed and I felt I needed a more long-term career and I would like to work with children. After careful searching and discussion with my employment adviser I found out that if I did a child care course my employment opportunities would broaden in the area of child care.