job brokers

jessicamy

i have been told that job brokers are a good source of help in looking for work because i am on incapacity benefit a local working in my town mentioned they went to shaw trust has anybody got any info on this
thanks

LittleVoice

If you want information about Shaw Trust, try this:

http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/

shameless-about-money

Shaw Trust were and still are, absolutely fabulous for me.

They are a mine of information and resources.

Jo_R_2

I'd ask your IB advisor who would be the best broker to refer you to. Different ones specialise in different issues/disabilities, some are better than others. Some throw money at you but don't actually offer much support at all. It depends on your needs as well - do you need help with job searching? Do you need someone to be actively seeking out jobs for you or just to help you write letters/approach employers? Do you mind contacting the employers yourself or do you need someone to help you do this? Do you want someone to come out and meet you at home/in town/etc or are you happy just meeting at the Job Centre or their office? Do you need someone to job coach you once you get a job or do you think you'll be fine?

Shameless I think you are a one-person walking advertisement for Shaw Trust - are you employed by them? Sounds like they delivered the goods for you!

jessicamy

thanks al i have made an appointment to see my disability advisor next week apparantly he can help, i dont mind talking to employers or looking for work but want help with my cv and applications and havn't had an interveiw for years. will let you know, who do you recommend jo-R ?

shameless-about-money

Jo_R wrote: »

I'd ask your IB advisor who would be the best broker to refer you to. Different ones specialise in different issues/disabilities, some are better than others. Some throw money at you but don't actually offer much support at all. It depends on your needs as well - do you need help with job searching? Do you need someone to be actively seeking out jobs for you or just to help you write letters/approach employers? Do you mind contacting the employers yourself or do you need someone to help you do this? Do you want someone to come out and meet you at home/in town/etc or are you happy just meeting at the Job Centre or their office? Do you need someone to job coach you once you get a job or do you think you'll be fine?

Shameless I think you are a one-person walking advertisement for Shaw Trust - are you employed by them? Sounds like they delivered the goods for you!

NO!! I don't work for Shaw Trust - they just helped me out SO much I cannot help but sing their praises! Apart from advice and meetings that they set up for me, they also got me £2.5K of grants so that I could do some courses and go into a new profession - for which I signed the new contract just today.
I never knew they existed until January this year - through a referral from the Job Centre.

Shaw Trust have been an absolute godsend to me and I owe them a debt of gratitude.

shameless-about-money

jessicamy wrote: »

thanks al i have made an appointment to see my disability advisor next week apparantly he can help, i dont mind talking to employers or looking for work but want help with my cv and applications and havn't had an interveiw for years. will let you know, who do you recommend jo-R ?

Your disability advisor at the Job Centre does not have the same resources as Shaw Trust. Also, you can see both of them, although I found Shaw Trust to be much more useful and helpful.

I had not had an interview since 1980 when I went to University!! Shaw Trust got an expert in interviews to see me at the Shaw Trust Office. We discussed my disability and how to answer questions that may be directed at me regarding my own problems, etc. They told me what to say if I was asked how my medical problems would affect my working ability and how things could be altered to help me in a working situation.
They got someone else who surveyed my cv and gave me hints and tips on improvements. They set up appointments with people who could help find funding for me.

I had no idea that all this help was out there, just waiting for me. The mrs at the Job Centre had completely forgotten to mention Shaw Trust to me, until it was mentioned in passing at a regular Job Centre interview in January.

Jo_R_2

shameless-about-money wrote: »

Your disability advisor at the Job Centre does not have the same resources as Shaw Trust. Also, you can see both of them, although I found Shaw Trust to be much more useful and helpful.

Shameless, I think the OP was meaning seeing the DEA with regard to getting referred to someone - or that's how I understood it anyway.

jessicamy - hard to say, I work for a similar kind of charity and know of a lot of places, some of whom we refer onto at the end of our projects, some not (and have referred onto Shaw Trust and had people referred to us from Shaw Trust!)

The thing is that although a lot of the places that provide this kind of support are national 'agencies', there are plenty who only operate in certain areas purely due to where funding is available. So what I'm saying is I know of national agencies who are good/not good but my knowledge is mainly local. Thus why the DEA would be a great port of call.

Just beware of those offering money to entice you to work with them - make sure they give you the support you want if you do go with one of these. You can ask about their outcomes each month in relation to the people they take on - for example an 'outcome' for us is when a client secures paid work of 8 hours or more, and we have targets set by our funders to achieve a certain amount of outcomes over the course of the project. This can be used as a guide - but IMO the best thing you can do is speak to someone who has worked with a project before and ask them what they thought of the support they received - a la Shameless, it's the best advertisement. We have clients who are happy to do this, and it's definitely worth enquiring about once you have contact with a project.