Job Doctor: Support into Employment & Training

About The Job Doctor Project

The Job Doctor project provides learning opportunities for individuals who are looking for employment, to enter education or training, to find volunteer roles or get involved in local groups and projects. The project provides guidance, training and support that are tailored to fit a customer's skills gaps, regardless of qualifications, experience, or employment status. The project provides two main services which are:

• One-to-One Support
• Courses & Workshops

One-to-One Support

One-to-One Support is all about developing the skills & confidence of individuals. Participants are invited to attend individually tailored sessions, which usually last about one hour and generally take place at YMCA - although we can sometimes arrange to meet individuals at venues around the city. The One-to-One Support sessions enable you to develop the skills you need to gain employment, get to college, become a volunteer or get involved in local groups, events and activities. The sessions build on your existing experience and focus on developing the skills you want to learn and problems you want to solve - for example, completing a job application form, practising for a job interview, begin to develop your own business or looking to gain voluntary experience.

You can opt to attend just One-to-One Support session - for some people this is enough to start getting short listed for jobs, or to build their confidence to attend college for the first time. Most people attend between four and six sessions, others attend occasionally but in between appointments stay in regular contact by telephone and email. As well as One-to-One Support sessions, most people try a combination of different personal development activities that might include networking, meeting other people with similar interests, working on a job application, practising for an interview, finding out about courses & training, careers advice and help with decision making - though some people just concentrate on one particular problem in a single session, for example, writing a personal statement for a job application, or preparing a Powerpoint presentation for a job interview.

As well as your One-to-One support sessions, Job Doctor can also provide you with ‘Job Doctor Information Sheets' which cover specific topics such as ‘Assertiveness,' ‘Applying for Jobs,' ‘Interview Skills,' ‘Presentation Skills,' and ‘Leadership Skills,' for example, so that you can learn in your own time.

‘Job Doctor' Courses & Workshops

The Job Doctor project provides a number of workshops which have been developed in response to the needs of local people. These include:

• Job Doctor Employment Skills - covers: C.V.s, Personal Statements and Interviews
• Assertiveness & Confidence Building - how to build your confidence, stand up for yourself and be heard.
• How to Write C.V.s. - write a sharp C.V. and get noticed.
• Personal Statements - How to Write Personal Statements for Job Applications and get that job interview.
• Presentation Skills - how to plan, structure and deliver a confident, informative and memorable presentation.
• Thinking of Starting Your Own Business - This session is run on a One-to-One basis only, lasts for 2 - 3 hours and helps get you started if you are thinking of running your own business but are not quite sure where to begin.

‘Job Doctor' Employment Skills Workshops

The Job Doctor Employment Skills Workshops were developed in 2008. Many people who have attended One-to-One Support and taken part in our Job Doctor Employment Skills have been short listed for interview and gained employment within days of taking part. The ‘Job Doctor' workshops cover:
• ‘Learn to think like an interviewer.'
• Easy ways to write a C.V.
• Painless ways to complete application forms.
• Practice for job interviews and develop enough confidence to enjoy the interview experience.

Each ‘Job Doctor' workshop is slightly different as we only focus on the skills that participants are interested in developing on the day. There are plenty of materials to take away and many people combine attendance on a ‘Job Doctor' workshop with participation in One-to-One Coaching in order to really solve a tricky problem like writing a personal statement in a job application or building the confidence to present yourself in a job interview.

Further information from:

Black Country Chamber of Commerce www.blackcountrychamber.co.uk
Black Country Connexions www.connexions-bc.org.uk
City of Wolverhampton College www.wolverhamptoncollege.ac.uk
Jobcentre plus www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
Regeneration West Midlands www.regenwm.org.uk
University of Wolverhampton www.wlv.ac.uk
Wolverhampton City Council www.wlv.ac.uk
Wolverhampton Partnership http://www.wton-partnership.org.uk/inovem/inovem.ti/system/homepage

Contact Information:

Marie Cooper, Job Doctor Project Manager, Wolverhampton YMCA, 29-31 Temple Street, Wolverhampton WV2 4AN Tel: 01902 771235 Email: marie.cooper@ymca-wolverhampton.co.uk