Alok Sharma, the Member of Parliament for Reading West, on Friday 26th June 2015, presented certificates to six young people who took part in Thames Water’s ‘Give Someone a Start’ scheme.

 

‘Give Someone a Start’ is a three week programme which provides young people who are currently out of work, the opportunity to shadow staff at Thames Water’s Reading offices to gain experience of being in the workplace. The candidates worked with different teams across the business including communications, community engagement and at the water testing laboratories.

 

They also received support with writing their CV’s and were given advice on interview techniques in preparation for the opportunities it is hoped will come their way as a result of the scheme.

 

All six candidates were presented with certificates by Alok, as well as a reference from Thames Water to help support their future job applications. They also met Thames Water director Richard Aylard, Andrew Sims from EU Skills and representatives from Shaw Trust, the employment, learning and skills charity which recommended them for the scheme.

 

‘Give Someone a Start’ was first developed by Thames Water in 2012 and aims to give long-term unemployed people a foot-up on the career ladder. In the last 12 months 50 people have taken part in London and the Thames Valley with around half of them going on to find employment within weeks, and in some cases days, of completing the programme.

 

Alok Sharma said: “This is a useful initiative providing young people with an insight into the way business operates. Good luck to all the young people who took part and I hope that the skills that they have learnt will prove helpful as they look to start their careers.”

 

Candidate Alex Linnegar, 18 said: “My overall experience has just been absolutely fantastic and I think that for the first time I stand a good chance of being employed, and when that interview comes, I’ll be ready. My CV now has that little something extra that makes me stand out from every other person who applies for the same jobs as me. I have something more to give and I now have the proof of that.”

 

Thames Water HR director Janet Burr said: “We’re immensely proud of the Give Someone a Start scheme which has a proven track record for getting people into jobs. The feedback from those who take part is that they go away with a huge boost in confidence after gaining experience of a bustling workplace which they can include on their CV and speak about in interviews. It’s this that makes them stand out from the crowd.”

 

Photo: The Give Someone a Start candidates with Alok Sharma MP and representatives from Thames Water, Shaw Trust and EU Skills outside Thames Water’s Vastern Road head office.