Happy International Women’s Day!

Today we are celebrating International Women’s Day by taking a look at the successful story of one of the participants on our Positive Prospects programme.

Jane Dempsey signed up to Positive Prospects, which is an employability programme for older people, when she was looking for a new job.

The six-week course led to her taking on a successful work placement at John Lewis and a Christmas job at Marks and Spencer.

Jane says: I have had a rewarding and varied career while in the thriving metropolis of London. Before needing to relocate to Exeter, I was working in different hospitals, one spell as an auxiliary nurse and as a receptionist in the imaging department. I often typed up letters and documents.

“As a jobseeker, I found the six-week course at Positive Prospects a delightful and helpful experience led by a brilliant team of work coaches who covered all the aspects of looking for a job. This included compilingCVs, interview techniques and pointers to make the potential employer say yes to the interviewee. This experience was also invaluable to boost my confidence while tackling online application forms.”

Following the course, a further six weeks was taken by work placement at John Lewis, where Jane was part of the team in the operations room, giving her wider experiencestock monitoring in the back room within the retail trade.

Jane says: “Consequently, I gained a temporary Christmas job at M&S, which broadened my scope of working within retail. Based in the homeware department, I gained till operating experience and replenishing stock fordisplay. This made me feel a very useful part of the team.”

During this period, she also volunteered for Cards for Good Causes based at St Martin’s Church. 

Jane adds: “So, I can safely say that without my participation at Positive Prospects, John Lewis and M&S, I would not have the ability or the insight to gain a good job where I can contribute to a worthwhile team.”

Scott Walker, deputy head of community at Exeter City Community Trust, says: “International Women’s Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of so many women and girls who take part in, and benefit from, our programmes. It’s incredibly rewarding to us all, to hear about Jane’s success on Positive Prospects and we look forward to hearing about her future successful career.”