Shadowing week with Tanyel

Earlier this year we organised Shadowing week, where any of our people could ask to shadow someone else to learn more about the different areas of the business. A few of us wrote blogs about our experience joining our team mates whilst they worked. 

Tanyel: my shadowing experience at the St Pancras and Somers Town Living Centre.

I was fortunate enough to shadow Joned Khan, Employment and Training Co-ordinator in Community Development, as part of our Shadowing Week.

Joned helps our residents with training, employment and careers advice. It was clear through talking to Joned that the emphasis is on the quality of service we provide and making this meaningful to the individual. This involves having in-depth conversations with residents to understand their career goals, skills and interests, in addition to the salary that they need to cover rent and living costs.

Residents can come to us on any step of their career journey, whether it’s for support with an application or for interview practice.

Often the residents who come to Joned for support aren’t aware of the skills they do have or the value they could add to an organisation. Part of the team’s work is to encourage residents to reflect on this. Many have been out of the workplace for several years, so it is as much about building up confidence as it is about practical skills.

A big part of the process also involves helping people to understand that job searching is a long process with pitfalls along the way. Joned plays a key role in motivating residents to carry on and stay positive if they have a bad experience.

I am surprised by how much I learnt from the shadowing. There are so many elements to our Employment and Training service, and to work in this area it is clear that resilience, organisational and people skills are important, to be able to work with residents and maintain vital networks with other organisations. This is truly rewarding work - thank you Joned!

You can read Lauren's shadowing experience here.