Union Learn West helps develop Anna’s career

Community has received funding from the MPSF Mayoral Priority Skills Fund to establish the Union Learn West project (ULWp) aimed at supporting those currently in employment across the West of England region to develop further learning and skills that will support them with in-work progression, or retrain while remaining in employment.

Anna was working in a job that felt like a stepping stone. Due to a history of mental illness and chronic illness she was unable to follow any career path when she was younger. She had to drop out of sixth form education due to illness and was never able to go to university which she had aways wanted to do. She’s a lover of education, but hasn’t been able to do as much as she’d like due to her health circumstances.

Anna signposted to career and coaching development via Skills Connect who offered immediate advice and support on putting in steps to explore what sort of career Anna wanted, giving her advice about different ways to approach job applications and reformatting her CV.

Anna has also enrolled in the Community’s Staff Skills Academy platform and has been working through several courses that include digital and functional skills. These courses have been able to support her in the workplace especially around social media for business, developing and implementing new admin systems, and link building for SEO.

Through the ULWp, Anna has been able to put a long list of course credits on her CV and evidence an expansion of knowledge. This will help her to start moving towards a career that she wants because she can now show that she has skills relating to other areas than just work experience. It has also made Anna feel more confident in her current role as she has been able to expand her skills and demonstrate to both her employer and herself that she is capable of taking on more responsibility in the workplace.

Anna says "I have always loved learning, but due to my circumstances, I have never been able to expand my knowledge in a way that I want to. Having access to these courses has been incredibly motivating to me and has proved to myself my ability for continuous growth."

"I would absolutely recommend the programme to others, there is such a variety of courses that there is something for everyone, no matter their interests or their career."

"The courses are well laid out and the combination of videos, text and short tests, really help ensure that you have learned and understood the courses. Having this variety also means that no matter your learning style, there is something for you. The courses are also CPD certified which means they are really good evidence to future employers of certification in that course subject."