Boost for Beaminster youths in search for work (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)
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Boost for Beaminster youths in search for work
10:00am Saturday 24th November 2012 in Bridport By Rene Gerryts
A HELPING HAND: Beaminster Job Club volunteers, from left, Jacqui Sewell, Christian Tyler, Janice Scott, Rebecca Knox and Jeanette Benton
YOUNGSTERS in Beaminster have a wealth of experience to call on in their search for employment thanks to volunteers at the town’s job club.
Set up by Dorset County Councillor Rebecca Knox and former Financial Time journalist Christian Tyler, it’s aim is both to give practical help filling in CVs and bolster confidence and interview techniques.
And they want to make sure the message that there is help at hand gets to as many people as possible.
Coun Knox said: “We really want to fill a gap for Beaminster folk, particularly young people who might need some help in writing CVs, practice interview technique, looking for jobs locally, etc.” There are around 14 volunteers and they come from all walks of life with a very diverse range of skills.
There’s a fish farmer, smallholder; garage owner, Army officer, journalist and people who work or have worked in financial pr, teaching, lecturing, nursing, podiatry, veterinary work; human resources, advertising and publishing, marketing, graphic design, shopkeeping, senior business management, local government and computer programming.
Mr Tyler added: “Our volunteers are people of wide experience.
“They run, or have run businesses, worked in public services, the military, the media and politics.
“They have sometimes been unemployed themselves.
“So they know what you need in order to have the best chance of getting a job, and can pass on good advice: how to write a CV, which websites to look at, how to behave at interviews, and various ways of getting on the job ladder.
“It’s a free service run by seasoned local volunteers which does what the government’s Job Centres cannot do – offer advice, guidance, encouragement and a sympathetic ear.
“It is not a job agency, but has many contacts.”
Coun Knox said she and Mr Tyler started the club because they were concerned that with the Bridport Job Centre not being open all the time it was difficult to get to the Weymouth one.
They did fact-finding at the Dorchester and Axminster Job Clubs and got the backing of Beaminster Chamber of Trade and the school – which allows pupils to visit during their lunch hour with parents’ permission.
The job club meets at the Yarn Barton centre in Fleet Street every Wednesday from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.
