Tiffany left college and no longer wanted to pursue the career she had trained for so signed up to DurhamWorks for help

After completing a Hairdressing at college Tiffany decided she no longer wanted to pursue this as a career. She was keen to find employment but was unsure where to start. Tiffany signed up to DurhamWorks with Groundwork. She engaged in one-to-one sessions with her youth coach, creating a personal action plan with clear goals, she was supported to create a CV, identifying her skills, job search, training needs, interview skills etc.

Tiffany began A Job for You Course to develop her employability skills. She attended a range of sessions including focused on personal and social development. She also achieved first aid, food hygiene and manual handling. The group planned and delivered a community project with peers - obtaining funding to purchase packages for people in need.

At the end of the course, she completed her first work placement in a local café, she was offered occasional ad hoc work but turned this down as she wanted to focus on finding full-time employment.

Tiffany then began working with EA Lead who organised an interview at a new Children’s Play Centre in Sunderland, Tiffany was successful in gaining employment here and had the opportunity to develop her skills and confidence. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out in the long term, which was disappointing, however, Tiffany picked herself back up and began volunteering at Groundwork assisting with admin tasks.

Groundwork’s Employer Engagement Lead and Youth Coach continued to support Tiffany and she was quickly offered a work trial at Poundstrecher Sunderland

Tiffany secured a key holder position thanks to her previous experience. From the beginning, she really enjoyed working in retail and felt she had finally found a job she really enjoyed.

Tiffany has recently been successful for the Assistant Manager position at Poundstrecher after working there a little over a year. It’s lovely to hear how much she is enjoying her role. Tiffany has proven that the road to finding a job you love isn’t always straight forward, there has been ups and downs, but Tiffany’s determination and hard work has paid off. Well done, Tiffany, really couldn’t be prouder of you.


If you or know someone like Tiffany who has just left school, college or University and they are not sure what the next step will be, contact the team at DurhamWorks on 03000 262 930, email Durhamworks@durham.gov.uk or text the word 'WORKS' to 60777. 



Posted in DurhamWorks Participants, General News, Our Stories on Aug 18, 2021


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