Case Study
Natalie from had completed her a-levels and moved from job to job; she had tried her hand at
sales, cleaning and waitressing, but was unsure of her longer term career plans – she wanted
her next move to be the start of a career, not just another temporary job. To give herself the
best prospects of success she decided to seek some help from the experts, and asked her
Jobcentre Workcoach if she could meet with her local National Careers Service adviser, Lindsey.
“It was brilliant. Lindsey did “The Buzz” test with me to look at my personality type and by
looking at this along with the transferable skills I had built up in my previous jobs. She offered
me some tips and advice on my CV too, which was really beneficial. From there, I started to
focus more on customer service and business admin related roles, and felt I had some more
direction when it came to looking at my options.”
Lindsey also helped Natalie find suitable jobs and apprenticeship opportunities based on her
new career plans, one of which was an apprenticeship opportunity working with Lindsey at the
National Careers Service. Natalie applied for the job and attended an interview, but
unfortunately on that occasion didn’t perform as well as she’d hoped at the interview. The post
went unfilled, however. The area manager for the Tees Valley team could see the potential in
Natalie however, and as part of her feedback suggested she meet back up with her adviser to
look at developing her interview technique.
Natalie got back in touch with Lindsey, who provided her with additional coaching and
mentoring; they looked at a range of interview skills such as how to research the company and
how to use the STAR technique, so that she could prepare strong responses to potential
interview questions.
After attending a second interview, equipped with these new skills and techniques, Natalie
performed brilliantly. She was offered the job, and started work with the National Careers
Service in late 2015. Natalie enjoys her job, and is a huge asset to her team.
“I feel that I have a job that I enjoy that has prospects and opportunities to develop. I get a lot
of job satisfaction in my career…I was unemployed and conscious that I wanted my next job to
be the start of a career…I’m a confident person, but being out of work and not being sure of
my next move was knocking my confidence a bit…Lindsey and the National Careers Service
changed that!”