28 Oct 2021 | Posted by Courtney Chandler

Andrew Bayliss joined the Youth and Employer Support (YES) programme in February 2020 as he was struggling to secure work due to his lack of experience.

The YES programme supports young people, aged 16-30, in finding long term employment.

We supported Andrew, with our team at Riverside Training, with updating his CV, applying for jobs and preparing for interviews, with the aim of finding work.

However, this was easier said than done. Only a month after Andrew came to us for support, we were in a national lockdown due to a global pandemic.

Although the world may have seemed to be put on hold, our support did not. We continued to support Andrew remotely where he developed his digital skills.

Andrew says: “The support I have received and still getting has been invaluable to me, I would not be where I am now without it.”

In January 2021, Andrew attended a series of online employability workshops with our Riverside team to increase his chances of finding work. We then worked with him to secure a Kickstart placement within our group.

Our Employability Manager at Riverside, Vicki Cross, says: “It has been a pleasure to support Andrew and see how much progress he has made.”

Andrew applied to be a Digital Filing Kickstart Assistant along with a number of other candidates. He gave a great first impression and was offered the job!

After starting his placement in April 2021, he has gone from strength to strength and gained more confidence. He has even mentored new starters.

Andrew says: “My confidence has improved so much and I’m doing things I never thought I could do.”

Vicki says: “The young man I met back in 2020 is very different to the Andrew we know now. We have seen him grow in confidence and develop his skills.”

As his Kickstart placement comes to an end, Andrew applied for the Business Administrator role within our team.

Andrew says: “Since working at Acis Group I have developed my customer service, communication, organisation, time keeping and phone skills. I have also learnt computer and phone skills which is needed in the Business Administrator role.”

Our Delivery Manager at Riverside, Richard Thorpe, has been impressed with Andrew’s attitude and dedication to his work.

He has shown great improvement since working within our team. More so, that he was successful in his interview and is soon to start as a Business Administrator.

Andrew says: “Joining the YES programme has to be one of the best decisions I have made. It has helped me so much from gaining basic skills, applying for jobs, and doing interviews for Kickstart.

“I am really happy with myself for getting this new job and that I get to keep working for Acis Group.”

Congratulations Andrew! To find out more about the YES programme or if you want to follow in Andrew’s footsteps visit: YES

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