Tina was a Hexagon Housing resident when she referred herself to our Love London Working Active Inclusion project after seeing information about getting CV support in our Home News magazine. She was registered onto the project in February 2021.
Tina had been unemployed for over 15 years, focusing on raising her children, and was finding it very hard to get a job. She was keen to return to work and wanted help in devising a CV. The CV she had was very sparse and she was unclear on what type of work she might be interested in doing. I had a very long discussion with Tina and learnt, she had experienced domestic violence resulting in a stay in a refuge for some time. Tina had been very low in the past but has gotten past this. But she also felt that her lack of qualifications was holding her back. She was also concerned about cautions from a long time ago and whether they might impact her ability to secure a job. Tina was keen to move her situation forward but wasn’t sure how.
I provided Tina with CV guidance including a template to complete which she returned to me and I used this as a basis to create a skills-based CV for her. She used this CV to apply for roles and secured a few interviews. I also supported Tina to access online training and she completed a Level 2 counselling course. I also referred Tina to digital skills training and mentoring to help improve her confidence and IT skills. She completed 6 1-1 mentoring sessions and completed several 1-1 digital skills sessions with one of Hexagon’s digital skills champions. In addition, Tina completed volunteering as a Befriender.
Tina got another interview for a customer advisor role but felt she struggled to answer questions and wasn’t invited back to a 2nd interview. So we completed a 1-1- interview skills coaching session.
Tina has a revamped CV, which better sells her skills and helped her secure job interviews, she now has a Level 2 qualification, gained work experience through her volunteering. In addition, she improved her IT skills through the 1-1 training and confidence through the 6 1-1 mentoring sessions provided by Hexagon.
Tina is more confident in her skills and ability. She has achieved so much in a short space of time and has managed to secure a permanent job as a Health Care Assistant for 12 hours per week, which she started in September 2021.
Tina said “I now have the confidence in myself having achieved qualifications, having mentoring sessions and completing a digital skills course. With the continued support of my advisor I had the confidence to apply for jobs with a professional CV “.
