Iain McIlwraith from Ayrshire is back in work and enjoying a career change at 57 years old thanks to the support of StartScotland.
Why Iain joined the Fair Start Scotland service
Iain signed up for our support after being out of work for a year with ill health. He was back to full fitness but concerned that employers saw his age as an issue and this was forming a barrier to regaining employment.
Iain also felt that he was perhaps not completing applications to the standards of the modern job market, it had been some years since he'd last had to apply for jobs.
How Fair Start Scotland helped
Once enrolled for the service Iain was assigned his very own Personal Adviser, Gayle Brogan. All our participants work one-to-one with a member of our team to ensure they gain the personalised support they need.
Gayle built a package of support for Iain, focussing on helping out with applications and getting Iain to grips with digital job searching. Being able to search for jobs online opened up a significant number of job opportunities Iain wasn't aware of before joining Fair Start Scotland.
One area that piqued Iain's interest via online research was the care sector. Iain wasn't too confident about this prospect due to having no experience in the area but Gayle showed Iain how his previous experience had given him a number of transferable skills that could be applied to care.
Getting a job
Together, Gayle and Iain submitted various applications for care roles and Iain was soon invited for interview. After conducting mock interviews with Gayle, going over the likely questions that would come up and just generally getting used to the interview environment Iain confidently attended.
We're delighted to report that Iain was offered the job and he's now happily working as a Support Worker. He's feeling positive about the future and we couldn't be happier for him.
We can help you into self-employment too. Complete the registration form at the bottom of the page to find out more.