A success story from Ready for Work
Our Ready for Work programme is a powerful initiative that provides work experience and guidance to people who are homeless or in other ways distanced from the job market.
Over 70 companies have provided work placements or other supports, reporting that they see the benefits too, including enhancement of reputation and staff development.
Ready for Work is a Dublin only programme but to date has impacted the lives of over 400 people.
Close to 60% of those completing their work experience have since started working and almost 100% of participants have said that the programme has increased their confidence and motivation for finding employment.
Read about Peter, a recent client of the Ready for Work programme: his experience has been challenging but one with a positive outcome.
Peter was referred to Ready for Work from a north inner city men’s hostel in April 2013. He had formerly been a rough sleeper and had been out of work for five months. He was hopeful that RFW would give him back a structure to his day and help him get back into the employment market.
Peter had a memorable first day on his placement at the BWG warehouse in Finglas, getting lost on his way out, running out of phone credit and being two hours late – mistakes he thought were comical when mentioned and ones he thought would never happen to him! BWG were very understanding about the first day slip up and the placement went smoothly for the next four weeks. Peter excelled in the warehouse and was eager to impress – the only fault BWG noted was his modesty and inability to take a compliment.
Pat Smyth from BWG said:
“For the first few days when Peter started he was tentative but after that he used his initiative, and just as important he interacted well with the rest of the staff…”
“As the weeks went on Peter got a better understanding. When he had one job done, he would look for more things. Once the task was explained you could leave it with him to do. Peter was very helpful”
On completion of his placement Peter linked back to Ready for Work for support with job seeking. During this time Peter was also looking to move from the hostel into private rented accommodation. During an initial meeting with his Training and Employment Officer it was decided that he should focus on his housing situation. It took several weeks of searching, viewing and negotiations for Peter to secure appropriate private rented accommodation. Once settled in his new place he began to concentrate his efforts on finding employment again.
Unfortunately, after just a few short weeks in his new accommodation the summer flash floods left Peter homeless once again after his apartment ended up under four foot of water from the River Liffey. After a prolonged clear up operation and four weeks out of his apartment Peter was back home. Again he approached his job seeking with enthusiasm and commitment, and after some support around his CV and cover letters he set about self-searching for employment.
Peter linked in with Ready for Work via phone regularly but after a number of weeks searching and no positive outcomes he met again with his Training and Employment Officer to review his approach. The job searching process can be exceptionally challenging for anyone as it is often done in isolation with little feedback or positive outcome; this process was beginning to show on Peter but again he used the meeting as an opportunity to re-evaluate his approach, make a new plan and focus on the positives.
The following day Peter got called for an interview for a managerial position in the marketing sector. He called the Ready for Work team and was given interview hints and tips over the phone that was followed up with emailed documents to support this information. Peter had a very successful interview and was offered the job only four hours later!
For more information please visit the Ready for Work section on our website.
