A former fire-fighter from South Wales has been helped out of long-term unemployment and back in to work thanks to leading employment and skills experts, Working Links.
Keith Williams, 45, from Treharris, secured a job with Royal Mail working as a delivery postman at the company’s Merthyr Delivery Office after being made redundant and spending more than 18 months looking for work.
Mr Williams said: “I have always worked. Until five years ago I worked in transport and as a retained fire fighter. Unfortunately I suffered a severe neck injury which put me off work for a year and I was retired by the fire service on medical grounds. I returned to work once I recovered and I held my job as a transport manager for more than four years until I was made redundant during 2008. I have found it very hard to find a new job since then because of my previous injury and sickness record from nearly six years ago. It has been incredibly frustrating.
“I am so grateful to Working Links for helping me find a new job and to Royal Mail for having the confidence to take me on.”
Working Links offers support for people who have been unemployed for more than twelve months, providing them with intensive one-to-one help to find jobs through a personalised package of training, confidence building, work placements and follow-up support in the workplace.
Marcella Maxwell, Wales Director for Working Links, said: “We recognise and promote the ethos of work for all, maintaining our position that employment offers the best route out of poverty and promotes social, health and economic wellbeing. Our unique public, private and third sector structure has enabled Working Links to fully engage with the ongoing Welfare Reform agenda, while at the same time delivering real improvements to the lives of thousands of disadvantaged people and communities.”
Working Links helps employers find enthusiastic, experienced and skilled employees, often providing specific training for job candidates even before they are interviewed. This free service gives employers the confidence that they are hiring staff who have the skills and capability they need to do the job.
Mr Williams’ Working Links consultant, Kelly Evans, said she was surprised he had found it so hard to find work, commenting: “Keith is very focussed and determined. His frustration at not being able to find work was huge and his commitment made him a pleasure to work with. We helped him with his CV and letter writing, something he had not needed to do for more than a decade.
“We also put him through an interview techniques course which proved invaluable because the Royal Mail recruitment process for his particular role is very demanding. Finally, we paid for him to have a thorough medical and for a report to be written which shows that he is completely well and fit to work as normal.”
Royal Mail regional operations director, Tony Baxter, said: “We look to recruit high calibre people to work at Royal Mail and I am delighted that Keith Williams has joined our workforce in Merthyr. His example shows that with help, commitment and determination, the barriers to finding work can be overcome, particularly through programmes like the Flexible New Deal.
“Keith is already proving an asset to our organisation and we wish him well in his new role with us.”
To find out more about working with Working Links to offer work placements, training or employment, contact 0800 917 9262.
