Alfie started the apprenticeship in October and he detailed how he has found it so far: “I’m really enjoying both sides: I love working with and helping my clients in my role, and on the learning side, I like the format of it: I’m not constantly bombarded with coursework, I’ve always got time to go away and independently complete it.”
Alfie also explained what his day-to-day responsibilities consist of at the Council: “I take referrals from the homelessness team and I then work with people to try and get them the job that they want. I help them with creating CV’s, making sure they’ve got the right clothing for interviews, conducting mock interviews and really anything else they might need support with.”
The job is perfectly aligned with the learning on the apprenticeship with Alfie giving numerous examples: “It’s everything from case load management to managing my own time, or even really specific things like RAG ratings, which helped me to create a priority list for my clients. Every session has been so beneficial.”
The way that Alfie discovered the apprenticeship opportunity was due to his previous commitments to helping less fortunate people: “I worked for the Council while I was still at school, doing some sports coaching with their health and wellbeing team. I kept asking if they had any job opportunities and then when I saw the apprenticeship advertised, I thought it would be a good transition from helping people through sports to helping people find employment.”
Alfie’s passion for helping disadvantaged people was apparent at a young age: “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do in the future, but I did know I wanted a rewarding job where I could see that I was making a difference.”
He was also keen to mention the immense amount of support he has had so far: “I have so much support, it’s crazy! I’ve not only got my manager at Open Road, who I don’t see every day, but who is always emailing me and checking in on my progress, but I’ve also got my manager at the Epping offices and I’ve got my tutor on the apprenticeship!”
One of those people supporting Alfie, Matthew Gauden, his manager at Open Road, described how he felt Alfie was adapting to his role: “Having Alfie perform the role of Job Coach alongside his apprenticeship has been an amazing opportunity for Open Road and Epping Forest District Council to create something unique and provide targeted and professional employment support to the homeless and at-risk homeless in Epping.”
Working directly with his Community Hub colleagues, Alfie is able to tailor support to each individuals needs and circumstances. The recruitment process of the apprentice was straightforward and excellently supported by Seetec Outsource and with the support of both Seetec Outsource and his work colleagues, Alfie is growing in confidence, expertise, ability and potential day-by-day.”
To show the difference that Alfie is already making in his role, he talked about one of his most engaging clients, who is only a year younger than him and has been kicked out of home by his parents. Alfie explained how he’s supported him so far: “We got his CV written up, we spoke to multiple employers, went to a job fair together. He likes sport and now he’s got an interview to work at a company that does catering at all the major London football stadiums.”
Alfie is proving to be an excellent candidate for the first person to have his role, with the idea being that there will be more like him starting all around the country, with other local councils applying for funding like Epping Forest District Council have done.
To find out more about Alfie’s apprenticeship, please click here: Employability Practitioner | Seetec Outsource
