Lorraine did her 12-week placement with the Stafford-based music charity, Make Some Noise, and with the county council’s highways partner Amey.
Whilst on placement with Amey, Lorraine successfully secured permanent employment as Depot Administrator where she’s kept busy providing administration support to staff and highway repair crews.
Lorraine, who left the jobs market three years ago due to family commitments, chose to join Open Door to brush up on her IT skills.
Lorraine said: “Having been out of work for three years, including the Covid period, I felt that, with the introduction of Teams and new ways of working, I needed to improve my IT and business skills to make my CV more attractive to a future employer.
“I have really enjoyed working with everyone involved on both placements and I have made some lovely friends along the way. I cannot thank Open Door, Make Some Noise and Amey enough for making me feel so welcome and for contributing to my success in gaining permanent employment.
“I would definitely urge people looking for a job or career change to get in touch with the team. You never know when or where another door will open.”
Principal Operations Manager on the Amey Staffordshire County Council contract, Lisa Stewart adds: I’m delighted to see another of our open-door candidates progress to full-time paid employment within Amey, working in collaboration with Staffordshire County Council.
“This is a great initiative to get people back into employment. Over the past eight years, Amey’s Staffordshire contract has supported almost 40 individuals to develop their employability skills through this initiative. Many have secured permanent roles across the contract and have found rewarding careers in highways.”
Philip White, Cabinet Member for Employability and Skills at Staffordshire County Council said: “Making sure we have a skilled workforce is essential to grow our economy and means we’ll be well placed to attract more better quality jobs to the county.
“Our Open Door programme and our new Staffordshire Jobs and Careers service are a great starting point for anyone looking for work experience, a job or career in Staffordshire. Our Employment Brokers can offer bespoke advice and guidance to residents as well as supporting businesses with their recruitment requirements.
“There are plenty of jobs and opportunities out there and I would urge people to get in touch with the team and get that extra bit of help to get started.”
The Open Door programme, which is part of the authority’s new Jobs and Careers service helps prepare people for the world of work. The programme provides work experience placements within council departments and external organisations depending on the candidate’s preferred area of work. During the placement people get valuable work experience which they can put on their CV, a reference from their manager, as well as access to certain training courses. People also get the opportunity to apply for any internally advertised jobs with the council.
To find out more information about roles that are currently available at Amey, please visit www.amey.co.uk/careers. People can find out more about Staffordshire jobs and careers by visiting Staffordshire Job & Careers Brokerage for Residents (staffsjobscareers.com)