This year, our New Start employability programme enters its fourth year, having helped over 300 social housing residents to date, to find employment opportunities and boost their career prospects.
One resident who found recent success through the programme is Edouard. He was keen to find work but struggled with his confidence due to language barriers. New Start was able to change this.
Edouard (pictured with Nasrin from JET) moved to Newcastle from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He had been Volunteering at JET for several months before being encouraged to apply for a role as a Digital Assistant at JET through New Start.
JET is a charity who help those from ethnic backgrounds or newly arrived in the UK to overcome some of the challenges they faced in searching for work, suitable training and work experience, as well as integrating into society and their local communities.
Nasrin Ahmadi, Lead Coach at JET was advising Edouard at the time:
“Edouard was heavily involved in charity work when he lived in DRC. He wanted to be able to continue working for good causes and helping people to develop.
“We know a lot of talent and skills get lost if they don’t get the right direction. They end up in a job that isn’t relevant to them. So, we commit ourselves to that and identify the talent, interest, passion, everything.
“New Start provided us with a great opportunity to build on that. One of the biggest barriers for a lot of people who are new to the country is the lack of UK work experience. They need a platform to actually gain that and prove themselves and show employers they are valuable assets.
“I come from a country where French is the main language,” said Edouard. “When you come here everything is different. Like CVs, job descriptions, interviews and the experience people are looking for. That was a big barrier. My English wasn’t as good as it is now.
“My New Start Advisor, Jenn was able to support me. She identified what I needed to work on and how they could support me. We worked on my CV, the interview process, how to improve the chance of people hiring me and how to sell myself.
“Working at JET has been great. You don’t just learn the theory; you get practical experience working in different scenarios and situations so you can see how to do the work. If you’re not sure about something, you can ask questions and my coach will support me – it helps to build your confidence.
“I was also able to get training in cyber security and information advice so I can better support clients.”
Since completing his five-month placement, Edouard has been offered a full time role as an Employment Advisor and has already supported three JET customers into work.
“New Start has given us very talented people, like Edouard and we are then able to work with them over the course of the five-month placement to get them to the point we want them to be” said Nasrin. “Thanks to this process, we’ve been able to give Edouard a permanent job. We saw the commitment and hunger to do the work and how worthwhile it is to put some resources behind them and give them an opportunity.
“New Start is a platform. They provide the support so after five months they are completely different people. They can make things happen for themselves and progress.”
“I feel good, I feel happy” beamed Edouard. “I’m able to help people like me, people who are new to the city who are struggling. I can help them on their journey.
"I want to progress, to go for more. I’ve managed to get a level 2 Information, Advice and Guidance qualification and now I’m looking to do level 3 and 4. I want to be a professional advisor and continue doing what I’m doing.”
There’ll be more New Start opportunities coming later this year. If you’re interested in finding out more about New Start, you can visit our website page.
This year, our New Start employability programme enters its fourth year, having helped over 300 social housing residents to date, to find employment opportunities and boost their career prospects.
One resident who found recent success through the programme is Edouard. He was keen to find work but struggled with his confidence due to language barriers. New Start was able to change this.
Edouard (pictured with Nasrin from JET) moved to Newcastle from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He had been Volunteering at JET for several months before being encouraged to apply for a role as a Digital Assistant at JET through New Start.
JET is a charity who help those from ethnic backgrounds or newly arrived in the UK to overcome some of the challenges they faced in searching for work, suitable training and work experience, as well as integrating into society and their local communities.
Nasrin Ahmadi, Lead Coach at JET was advising Edouard at the time:
“Edouard was heavily involved in charity work when he lived in DRC. He wanted to be able to continue working for good causes and helping people to develop.
“We know a lot of talent and skills get lost if they don’t get the right direction. They end up in a job that isn’t relevant to them. So, we commit ourselves to that and identify the talent, interest, passion, everything.
“New Start provided us with a great opportunity to build on that. One of the biggest barriers for a lot of people who are new to the country is the lack of UK work experience. They need a platform to actually gain that and prove themselves and show employers they are valuable assets.
“I come from a country where French is the main language,” said Edouard. “When you come here everything is different. Like CVs, job descriptions, interviews and the experience people are looking for. That was a big barrier. My English wasn’t as good as it is now.
“My New Start Advisor, Jenn was able to support me. She identified what I needed to work on and how they could support me. We worked on my CV, the interview process, how to improve the chance of people hiring me and how to sell myself.
“Working at JET has been great. You don’t just learn the theory; you get practical experience working in different scenarios and situations so you can see how to do the work. If you’re not sure about something, you can ask questions and my coach will support me – it helps to build your confidence.
“I was also able to get training in cyber security and information advice so I can better support clients.”
Since completing his five-month placement, Edouard has been offered a full time role as an Employment Advisor and has already supported three JET customers into work.
“New Start has given us very talented people, like Edouard and we are then able to work with them over the course of the five-month placement to get them to the point we want them to be” said Nasrin. “Thanks to this process, we’ve been able to give Edouard a permanent job. We saw the commitment and hunger to do the work and how worthwhile it is to put some resources behind them and give them an opportunity.
“New Start is a platform. They provide the support so after five months they are completely different people. They can make things happen for themselves and progress.”
“I feel good, I feel happy” beamed Edouard. “I’m able to help people like me, people who are new to the city who are struggling. I can help them on their journey.
"I want to progress, to go for more. I’ve managed to get a level 2 Information, Advice and Guidance qualification and now I’m looking to do level 3 and 4. I want to be a professional advisor and continue doing what I’m doing.”
There’ll be more New Start opportunities coming later this year. If you’re interested in finding out more about New Start, you can visit our website page.
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