If you are in your fifties or sixties and looking for work, a visit to the Waterloo Job Shop might be a good idea.
The shop’s employment advisors will support anyone eligible – residents of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham aged 50 and above and out of work for six months – to help them overcome barriers to taking up jobs.
It will also, if necessary, help older workers to create professional CVs and to improve their interview technique.
The shop is organised by the South Bank Employers’ Group. It works with employers undertaking recruitment drives, including those in the “visitor economy” and business administration.
The group is a partnership of 18 major employers in the South Bank, Waterloo and Blackfriars.
Chief executive Nic Durston said: “Hiring more older workers makes excellent business sense. Those aged 50 and above bring experience of the workplace and tend to be more flexible.”
Darryl Monfries, employment and skills manager at the Waterloo Job Shop, said: “We are pleased to be building on our 15 years of delivering back-to-work programmes with a special focus on older job-seekers.
“With support, they can access the many jobs created in South Bank and beyond and enjoy a new lease of life.”
The Waterloo Job Shop opened in 2002 to help local residents benefit from the flourishing South Bank and to help employers there find committed workers on their doorstep.
It says it has helped hundreds of local unemployed people to get into work, informing residents of the employment opportunities available in their neighbourhood and supporting them to apply for and get these jobs.
The staff offer help with applications, coaching on interview techniques and pre-employment training.
