Youth Hub opens to help young people find work

Finding a job can be a real challenge, especially when you're trying to get your foot on the employment ladder for the first time.

According to latest figures, nearly a million people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training (Neets), which the Prime Minister recently described as a "catastrophe and a moral failure".

In Telford, a new youth employment hub has opened in a shopping centre, with the aim of offering guidance and helping young people get closer to employment.

One job seeker, Liam Moseley, 18, who is among those using the hub, said he had already applied for at least 50 jobs since finishing college.

After completing his second year this September, he signed up for Universal Credit at his parents request and was referred to the hub by his work coach.

"My work coach kept mentioning how I'd be a perfect applicant for this place," he said.

Despite his best efforts in looking for employment, Moseley told BBC Radio Shropshire that the process of applying for jobs and sending CVs had been "hell".

"Nine times out of 10, you'll apply for a job and then somehow just get ghosted, like it's one of your exes," he explained.

He added: "I've never heard back from a job."

Job seeker Ruby Stonehouse said she had had "no response back" after applying to over 100 jobs in retail and other sectors.

"I've literally had no response from any [of them]," the 19-year-old explained.

"I think it's really upsetting. It just kind of hurts, like ah they didn't even take time to look into the CV."

The new hub, which is open Monday to Saturday, is run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in partnership with Telford College and the local authority.

Adam Smith, one of the mentors at the site, said they wanted to improve people's confidence in job searching.

He said it was about keeping people motivated while helping them to understand the job cycle and improve their soft skills.

"[It's about] being more comfortable with job searching, doing it themselves, especially with utilising something like the work hub which is a new site from the DWP," he said.

"It's kind of showing them what tools they have at their disposal, how to utilise them properly, and just giving them the confidence in using them," he said.

Smith added that they also offer advice to young people with improving and tailoring their CVs.

"A lot of people have the skills and the capability, but they just don't know how to put it across to an employer," he said.

"Come in, have a chat... see what it's about and we'll always point you in the right direction."

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