Hackney,
17
February
2015
|
11:49
Europe/London

Helping to forge future careers after education

opportunitiesweek.jpg

Hackney Council is putting on a week-long programme of free activities and events to help young people develop skills to forge successful careers.

Hackney Opportunities Week starts on 2 March with a five day programme of free activities, workshops and events designed to equip young people with the advice and skills to successfully search, apply and interview for a future career.

Joining forces with Hackney Homes, Job Centre Plus, local secondary schools, colleges and businesses, the Council is promoting events that cover a wide-range of employment topics, from how to improve a CV and support available to get a job, to personal branding and how to take advantage of employment opportunities. People who are actively job seeking will be put in touch with organisations that can support them into jobs, traineeships and apprenticeships.

Young people will also have the chance to find out more about the new Hackney Opportunity Hub that opened this month. Located in the heart of Shoreditch, it is home to the Council’s Ways into Work employment service that helps unemployed people who live in Hackney into full or part-time work. The Hub has been designed for the community with a suite of free computers, WI-Fi access and Ways into Work staff on-hand to provide employment support and coaching.

Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney
Despite Hackney’s reputation as the hub for growing industries such as those linked with tech and the night-time economy, 9.4 per cent of people aged 16 and over in Hackney are unemployed with some young people feeling living and working in Hackney is beyond reach when they leave school.

We hope that with the launch of the first Hackney Opportunities Week, many young people across the borough will gain the support, skills and confidence to succeed when taking the first step onto the employment ladder and embarking on a career in the borough and beyond.

Opportunities Week is just one way that we are supporting younger people. We launched the Hackney 100 initiative last year which has seen close to 100 16-17 year-olds into work experience paid at the London Living Wage with a wide-range of businesses across Hackney. Opportunities Week is giving us the chance to highlight some of the great opportunities, from the Council and partners, that are helping prepare our young people for employment after education.
Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney

For more information about Hackney Opportunities Week, you can view the leaflet here, or pick one up from the Hackney Customer Service Centre or a school careers advisor.