Khadija had been out of work for over a year. On May 13 I emailed a part-time admin vacancy to residents and she was the first to respond with her CV.
Meeting Khadija was a genuine pleasure she was early, incredibly well presented, keen and with great communication skills. When we discussed her challenges in finding work, she advised she is a single parent of 2 young autistic children and needs part-time, flexible working. She also found that employers felt she is overqualified for the roles she is going for.
Unemployment had impacted Khadija’s confidence and she was beginning to lose faith in ever finding anything and started to doubt the value of her great skills and experience.
Khadija and I completed an action plan to agree on the support she would receive from the project and the goals she wanted to achieve. I revised her CV to better tailor it to the admin role I was forwarding her for. There was a delay in agreeing an interview date for the role because the employer went on leave.
I kept in regular contact with Khadija, and she applied for another role, got an interview and we did an interview coaching session. She did not get the role but was advised she was appointable, and did a great interview, but another candidate scored higher. This greatly boosted Khadija’s confidence and the next day she had an interview with Bernard Construction. I spoke to her and the employer after the interview, both were very happy with each other. The employer offered Khadija the job straight after the interview. She started on June 15th.
Khadija advised that she’s grown in confidence because of the support she received from the project and the work her employer trusts her to do. Her increased confidence and support from her employer, means she’s been able to work her 15 hours flexibly when needed. She has been given interesting projects to work on due to her enthusiasm, professionalism, and skill. She is enjoying learning new things and further developing her skills.
Khadija said, “This opportunity makes me feel I can achieve as a parent. I am optimistic about the future and feel my confidence has really improved. I feel a sense of security in my new workplace. I love it here!” Cindy said, “It’s not always about having recent work experience. If you’re professional, focused, skilled and willing to learn, I’m happy to be flexible because I know the work will get done. Khaidja has been great.
