Will was referred to by Careers Wales after leaving college as he did not know what he wanted to do next and needed some support with building motivation and gaining direction. Although he had been in college for three years, he didn’t feel prepared for work as he didn’t enjoy the bricklaying course he had been doing and did not want to pursue that as a career. He felt as though he had been pressurised into doing that course as it was presented as the only option for him. Will felt as though he was just left to fend for himself with no idea about where to go next. He has ADHD and struggles with concentration and focus, and also has younger family members whom he is often expected to babysit for. All of these things combined meant that Will was feeling lost and low when he came to the project in October 2020.
Llamau started by helping Will to re-build some confidence through the activities in the Improving Own Confidence Agored unit. Will found it helpful to re-engage with a regular learning routine and be reminded of his strengths and positive traits. He began to see that it wasn’t a failure to have been to college to study a course that he didn’t want to pursue as a career, and that he could harness the skills learnt on this course for other jobs.
They then helped Will to look at his options for the future and to hone his interests and skills so that he could identify a logical and realistic path forward. Will has a lot of different interests so it was necessary for staff to help him see which of these could be harnessed into a career. This enabled Will to realise that he needed to look for a job that is active and involves moving around, but not in construction or bricklaying.
During his time on the project Will made good progress. As well as achieving his Entry Level award in Personal and Social Education, W became more motivated and focused and began to apply for jobs in retail and hospitality. He felt good knowing that, even if this isn’t what he does for his whole life, working in a thriving sector such as retail might open some doors to him and will give him valuable skills and experience.
Will reached a point where he was able to independently apply for up to five jobs each week, and attend interviews confidently. Instead of becoming demotivated at each unsuccessful interview, Will persevered until he succeeded in gaining a place on the Prince’s Trust Get Into Retail programme based at John Lewis in Cardiff and received good feedback.
As a result of all this support Will has completed his week’s work experience and will be starting paid work at John Lewis soon. He is thoroughly enjoying it and says that he is grateful for the opportunity.
South East Wales Regional Engagement Team
Civic Offices, Angel Street, Bridgend, CF31 4WB
T: 01656 815327 | E: SEWalesRET@bridgend.gov.uk | @SEWalesRET 
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