New initiative helping parents to find work and enter well-paid jobs

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A North Ayrshire Council initiative is helping parents to find work while expanding the talent pool for local employers.The council’s Step Into Customer Service programme is helping to enhance parents’ job opportunities in well-paid posts.New Scot Kateryna Voloshanovych, from Ukraine, is a mum-of-two who is currently working as an administrative assistant with Taylor & Henderson solicitors and estate agents in Saltcoats.In Ukraine, Kateryna worked in HR and recruitment and when she moved to Scotland she was keen to upskill and find work that tied in with her children’s school hours.She registered with We Work for Families (WWFF) – which is a council-funded service in Ardrossan that supports parents into work and also offers them help with housing matters, gas and electricity bills, access to food bank vouchers and help with CVs.And she had a Better Off calculation done - which explains the various benefits people are entitled to and how these could change when they start working - by the We Work For Families team.Through the council’s employability service’s Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme, an opportunity came up for Kateryna to join Step Into Customer Service and she has now completed various training courses including customer service, health and safety in the workplace and confidence building.Since January, she has been working 20 hours per week and would highly recommend that parents looking for a way back into the workplace contact the Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire team.She said: "I contacted the council’s employability team to get help to find a job.

I would say to other people, don’t be afraid to make the call because you will get a very warm welcome. It could help change your life.”Janic