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Employment scheme hits the right note with jobseekers

An innovative jobs scheme using music to engage with unemployed people has just hit the right note with 15 long-term jobseekers from Belfast.

Employment specialists Ingeus, which delivers the Department for Employment and Learning’s Steps 2 Success employment programme, hosted the initiative. Steps 2 Success is designed to help participants build the skills and experience needed to find and keep a job, thereby supporting the needs of employers and the Northern Ireland economy.

Participants spent the week making the link between the skills required to create great music and those essential to getting and keeping a job. These included discipline, team work, time management, communications and planning. Several local employers, from retailers to restaurateurs, gave their time to outline the qualities and skills they look for when recruiting new employees, and the week featured a recording session with Belfast singer-songwriter Duke Special.

Amongst those attending were 27-year-old Michael Blaney and Christopher Dickson, 36, from Belfast as well as James Powell, who’s 34.

“I’ve been unemployed since 2010,” said Michael. “It wasn’t my choice, and I have struggled to find a job ever since. I have experience working for retailers and that’s where I want to return, so meeting employers and finding out more about them has been a real help. I’m also a music lover and making the connection between the two industries has been fascinating. It’s given me renewed enthusiasm to find a job.”

Christopher, who has spent the past year looking for a job, said, “I worked in the music business, and that’s where my heart lays. The course opened my eyes to a broad range of opportunities within music, including many business roles. I was self-employed before and I’m used to recording studios, but I now have greater awareness of what else is needed, such as security, backstage jobs, finance and production.”

“The highlight for me was working alongside Duke Special,” added James, who’s been unemployed for the past five years. “Listening to Duke’s story of success and hearing him perform was a real inspiration. As well as this, I have also learned how to improve my CV, and how to make the best impression in job interviews. I’m hoping my chats with employers will have been beneficial. Meeting and talking has made me more determined than ever to get a job.”

The course took place at Belfast’s iconic Oh Yeah music centre, which has housed countless concerts from top artists, including Duke Special. Duke supported the course by playing and recording music with the jobseekers, and talking about overcoming personal barriers.

“I’ve taken part in various workshops on many occasions, but this one was unique for me in terms of what we were trying to achieve and how we went about it,” he said. “At the end, we all came away with a sense of having created something unique.

“Most musicians know only too well about unemployment at some point in their lives, and I was really pleased to play my part to help others,” he added.

“The week was designed so that people could develop the essential skills required to find long-term work by drawing similarities between music and employment in a wide range of sectors,” said Michelle Scott from Ingeus. “The support we received from so many people really helped our group to believe in themselves and in what they can offer employers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ingeus .