Volunteering to enhance your curriculum vitae
Names have been changed.
Sheila attended a school for disabled kids and had no opportunity to gain qualifications at school. She became an office junior. By her early 40’s she had worked her way up to office manager in the same firm, with self-taught computer skills, when she was made redundant.
Lacking paper qualifications and being shy and unassertive she found it impossible to get a job, and was getting depressed. She became a Lead volunteer and enjoyed supporting a student who, like her, used a computer with one hand. The Learning Co-ordinator encouraged her to take HNC computing modules on a fee waiver, and she took on a second Lead student.
She continued to apply for jobs, using the Learning Co-ordinator as a referee. Having some recent and interesting experience to talk about at interview she was finally able to get a part-time temporary job with the local Council. Within 2 years this had become full-time and permanent.