This project is part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy.
Particpant's story
An Employment Officer from NIACRO tells us about a client who joined the Working Well programme after being sentenced to probation.
"The client needed support with interview skills, as he had an interview coming up, and information around disclosing convictions. He had a good educational background and was a skilled, self-employed person with a stable family life, who wanted to be able to provide for his family.
He knew having convictions would make it difficult to get into employment given the stigma and judgement that comes along with having a criminal record."
Interview coaching
In order to prepare for the job interview the participant completed some interview coaching. At the time of starting with Working Well this seemed to be the main barrier as it had been a while from he had had an interview due to previously being self-employed.
The Employment Officer continues: "The other identified barrier to employment was disclosing his criminal record to an employer. We worked together and overcame this barrier by completing a disclosure letter, we also updated and amended his CV."
He was successful at his job interview, started employment, and all was going well until someone spoke of his convictions to higher management, even though he wasn’t asked to disclose information surrounding his convictions at application / interview stage. Following this he was let go from that job role which affected his confidence and was most definitely a setback for him. "
New job
The client then completed job searching independently, applied to an agency where he was immediately offered a position and has been working in his current role ever since.
The Employment Officer concludes: "We knew this client was employable, had a good work ethic and brilliant skills, he just needed someone to give him the chance to prove himself. It has been a pleasure to support and work with him over the last few months, he is highly motivated to achieve, and I am so happy and proud to see him progress and move through the programme into employment."
He appreciates all the help and support he has gained through NIACRO and is happy where he is now and what this means for him and his family’s future