Our Community Engagement Advisers (CEA) support young people to reach their full potential but its not always easy to build a relationship from the get go, especially if the young person has faced setbacks which are out of their control. Sam*, finished his course in Media during lockdown and was faced with no career opportunities as the World of the Arts ceased to exist. When he became NEET he was incredibly despondent about his future as he just wanted to find a job.

A CSW Community Engagement Adviser initially worked with Sam over the phone and built up a relationship with him over text and calls as he often would retreat back into only sending messages. The Adviser helped him with his job search as he had no idea at all about how to look for work and especially with the nuances of this world – for example understanding what full and part time meant; what a dress code was and travel to work locations.

During this time the adviser signposted Sam to Young Minds to help with some of his anxiety as he did not want to attend a ‘group’ course which could have helped him. However, his independent nature did mean that he would do things off his own back if pointed in the right direction.

The CEA and Sam eventually managed to meet face to face in the Exeter Works Hub when lockdown eased and this was the breakthrough that the adviser needed as he was much more responsive to their calls and suggestions after they had both met one another face to face. The CEA supported with interview techniques and also held mock interviews with him both over Teams, the phone and face to face.

It is great to see Sam now working full time in a vacancy that the CEA sourced and helped him apply and interview for! He is a credit to the company and they have already given him opportunities to gain further work based qualifications which he is taking up!

We are so delighted that one our CSW Community Engagement Advisers was able to give Sam the support he needed to find a job. Sam’s mental health has improved a lot and his confidence has grown!

*identity has been changed to protect identity.