AG has found out about Wise Steps through a friend who had recommend ICOS to him, he had started his journey on Wise Steps in July 2019 as he needed support with finding relevant courses and employment. AG originally came from Colombia and his English language skills have been very good, but he did not have a formal qualification in English. He had finished travel and tourism degree in his home country, and he really wanted to continue with his education here, but his qualification is not recognised in the UK on the same level. AG has been long term unemployed and has found it extremely difficult to get any interviews which had an impact on his confidence when applying for work.
We have supported AG with updating his CV, writing a covering letter, registering with job searching websites and agencies, we have helped him with multiple job applications within the hospitality, retail, and customer service sector. During this time AG was successfully invited to multiple interviews including a kitchen porter, warehouse operative, hotel event host and multiple customer service roles at call centres but unfortunately those have been unsuccessful. In February 2020, AG has completed an online Level 2 Food Hygiene course for Catering and took part in other online training including ‘get into digital’ virtual work experience.
In February 2021 AG has been referred to Wise Steps tutor team to take part in functional skills and to improve his qualifications but in March 2021 AG has applied for a customer service role at a local business and was invited for two-week trial with the business, AG has successfully completed his trial and has been offered a full time, long-term position starting on 8th of March 2021.
Overall, AG is very happy with the support he has received from Wise Steps and ICOS, his confidence, digital skills, and experience have improved a lot due to the support received. AG is now motivated to learn to drive which is his next goal. We would like to wish AG all the best with his new employment opportunity!