Deborah's in paid employment after 20 years volunteering

A Dumfries woman has secured her first paid job in over 20 years thanks to the support of StartScotland. Deborah Currie, 55, appreciated the service so much she even persuaded her son to join up.

Why Deborah joined the Fair Start Scotland service

Despite having had a previous bad experience with a welfare-to-work support programme Deborah decided to join Fair Start Scotland as she'd been out of work for 20 years and desperately wanted to resolve this. Her confidence was at rock bottom after years of dealing with rejections.

How Fair Start Scotland helped

Deborah was teamed up with Personal Adviser, Dawn Diamond, in the StartScotland Dumfries office. Dawn worked hard to gain Deborah's trust as she was naturally sceptical about the service after her previous bad experience with another provider.

Dawn discovered that Deborah had been volunteering regularly for the British Heart Foundation and had worked in administration roles in the past. She used this knowledge to make her see that employment was possible and together they devised a CV fit for the modern job market.

Dawn spent a lot of time challenging Deborah's poor self-esteem and eventually managed to persuade that she did have worth and paid employment was within reach. With renewed belief and a decent CV it was time to start applying for jobs.

Getting the job

It wasn't long before Deborah was invited for interview and she was immediately successful. She's been offered a full-time role working for the National Centre for Children’s Literature and is looking forward to having a working routine and making new friends. Well done, Deborah, we're chuffed for you!

Deborah was so delighted she's recommended the service to her son and we're looking forward to telling you all about how we got him into work.

We can help you into self-employment too. Complete the registration form at the bottom of the page to find out more.