Over the last few months, our new peer assistants, Afra and Kate, have been supporting young care leavers who have joined our Gen @ Work programme. Two of the young participants have shared their message for employers. Find out more and read their messages below.

Gen @ Work is a new initiative being led by Access Generation with support from Leicestershire Cares and is funded by the government’s Coronavirus Community Support Fund distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund.

We’ve been working with 18-24 year old care leavers across Leicester and Leicestershire on the real-world work experience programme to help them compete in the crowded labour market, boost their confidence and give them exposure to our employer network.

Participants have been researching diversity and inclusion on employer websites, helping us deliver neurodiversity training to a large organisation and building on their own skillset around marketing and research.

Martin and Sophie were two of our first participants to join the programme. Here are their messages to employers…

Introducing Martin

This work experience will help to boost my employability skills, to further develop my interest research. I am also hoping that I can further develop my own knowledge and skill set.

I am always open to learning new skills, whether it being employability related skills or gaining real-world experience of work. 

I look forward to carrying out research into businesses and learning about how they operate and attract potential employees. I believe this experience will not only be really useful for myself, but will also help employers to improve their strategy to attract new talent.

After the work experience has finished, I believe I will be more confident and also develop my interest in other areas that I did not know of before. I also believe that I will see a big improvement in the way I sell myself in interviews. 

My message to employers is to not judge a book by its cover and give the employee a chance to tell you who they are instead of making assumptions based on their achievements. 

Introducing Sophie

I am interested in taking part in the Access Generation programme as it will give me the opportunity to enhance my knowledge and gain work experience to further develop my career. I am hoping that the knowledge that I gain can be transferred into future work opportunities. 

I am excited about learning new skills and developing my existing skills. I am most looking forward to being a part of helping young people by undertaking research to improve the way businesses and other organisations run. 

I am hoping that being a part of Access Generation will help me to improve my confidence and communication with others. 

My message for employees would be that more young people should be given opportunities to showcase their skills.

Keep up to date with our work and learnings through the Gen @ Work programme by subscribing to our mailing list.

Do you want to support future generations?

We’re looking for more employers to support our work through corporate social responsibility. Get in touch to find out more about ways to support this work.