Have you heard of the Kickstart campaign? Kickstart specifically targets 16 – 24 year olds who are currently claiming Universal Credit and may be at risk of long-term unemployment. The jobs are in the form of work placements, across all departments of the council and aim to help young people gain the skills and experience they need to progress into other jobs.
Samuel got his role as a comms and social media administrator through the Kickstart campaign.
”I was working in general maintenance and the hours were not consistent. My manager at the time had heard about Kickstart and suggested I look into it as they knew I wasn’t having much luck looking for more permanent work.
“The appeal of Kickstart is you get a ‘real job’ out of it, with real job skills and experience. The process of applying was pretty straight forward. After leaving university, I had to sign up to Universal Credit. I just had to fill in some details on www.gov.uk and take a few calls. I was then all set up and invited to a weekly video call where they showed me all the new Kickstart opportunities. It took a few weeks of looking but eventually ’careers hub administrator‘ was offered. I was originally drawn to read more about the position because I liked the sound of the title – it felt colourful and warm – but then found myself excited about the combination of admin and creativity the role offered. I asked my Universal Credit Coach to put me through for the position and then I applied for it like any normal job. I also attended an employability skills workshop week as part of the scheme to prepare me for the application and interview, which really helped.
“I am really enjoying my current role, my main responsibilities include looking at how to improve our social media presence and the delivery of our content, general content creation (graphics, text, video edits etc), creating and using Excel spreadsheets and attending internal and external video calls/meetings.
“I have already learnt so much that will help me going forward professionally. I’ve developed my communication skills both through emails and within meetings. I have learnt new applications like Excel which I am now confident in using. My understanding of social media and how to use it for business has grown massively. My self-confidence and self-belief have become stronger, which will really help me – both in acquiring new positions and developing within them.”
If you are eligible and interested in finding out more about Kickstart roles at East Sussex County Council and other local businesses, then contact your local job centre for more details and placement opportunities or visit the Kickstart website.
