In this blog, I am going to be talking about what it is like to apply and interview for my first-ever job within my local authority as a former care leaver. This blog is going to be talking about my own views and experience of doing this, but also what I feel it is like for a care leaver to be accepted for an interview from the local authority.
As a former care leaver, I have seen first-hand and personally experienced that since being in the care system, trying to find a post and job that I can settle into was really hard because I always felt that I was being judged by people who come in, always feeling that someone would find out I was in care, or even fearing that I would bump into my family in case they came into the store…
Due to this, I was always on edge and never could do the job correctly because I was always feeling that something bad was going to happen or that I was going to be put into a position that I was not going to be able to get out off. In the end, all I felt that was best to do, was to stay away from working and focusing on my studies until I finished my final year of college.
After finishing my final year of college, I knew that I was transferring to another city to undertake my three-year undergraduate course, which I knew I needed to focus on, but I wanted to actually be able to get some extra funds in just encase anything went wrong, or if I needed to do some unexpected printing or need materials for the course, as I knew due to me doing a creative course, many different accessories could be needed which the university doesn’t fund for me to use.
So, for me to do this, I knew that I needed to go and apply for as many jobs as possible that are online but also attend the working job fair within the university to see if I can get employment part-time and get some skills for when I graduate. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any employment until my third year of university which was unfortunate, but I was happy to have this employment in my third year because it was linked to my course and on top of this, I was able to do what I loved doing. During this time, I learned many different skills that helped me get through my postgrad course, and now less than three months after finishing my course I was able to apply for a post at my local authority.
Being able to apply and even get an interview with the local authority really helped me get the confidence I needed when being back, as I was anxious to be home due to being away for a long time, but at the same time, it made me feel that I was actually wanted to be employed even though I had a rough and hard bringing up and challenging lifestyle until now.
My story of getting through university and overcoming the fear of being employed and bumping into people that I knew and didn’t want to see; I would like to think can help people who are reading this blog because for many care experienced people, our lives can either make us or break us, and the fear of our past haunting us can be frightful for all of us, so for me to be able to focus on education until I was better and then overcome the fear of working can be both inspirational and helpful for those reading this blog.
By Anonymous Care Experienced Blogger
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