Unlocking skills for a change of career

Nextstep advisers in Hull have helped hundreds of people to unlock their skills and open the door to new careers.

This is the story from one of our Nextstep advisers about Emma who had worked in retail at the same company for over 30 years and was desperate for a change of scenery.

“Emma came to use the Nextstep service for help and advice in producing a CV and for some general information on changing her career.Emma felt that she had had enough of retail work and wanted to now change her career and work within an administration or customer service role. I helped Emma to look at clerical/customer service careers in more detail and helped her to create a CV which highlighted all of her skills and experience. I helped Emma to recognise her existing skills and experience and advised her about how she could use her transferable skills within a new work arena.One of Emma’s concerns was that she may find it difficult to adjust within a different setting after so long with the same company. Emma also felt that her age was against her and had recently encountered age discrimination from an employer when applying for a vacancy which caused a negative effect on Emma’s outlook.

Emma and I discussed the positives of finding a new job, learning new skills and meeting new people. I helped Emma to access employers who were older worker friendly. After researching online we found a vacancy for a position in a high street retailer, which involved both customer service and undertaking some administrative duties.Emma was successful in being appointed for this position and remains extremely happy in her new post which has enabled her to combine her retail skills whilst undertaking new administrative tasks. Emma is now undertaking a variety of duties, learning new skills and meeting many new people. This change in career has shown Emma that she has many valuable skills to offer which can be transferred to a new environment later in life."