In November, Manchester City Council (MCC) offered a work exposure tour to Manchester residents who are part of the Caring, Working, Living project which works with parents and carers looking to return to paid employment.
Indra Power, a Work and Skills Officer from MCC explained why the Council feel the tours are beneficial. “The tour allows residents to meet MCC colleagues to find out about their role, the different routes they took to get to where they are now and also to find out about current live vacancies”.
People attending the tour had the opportunity to meet staff from the Population Health and IT departments, both of which the Council regularly recruit to. Staff members gave personal, honest accounts of what it feels like to return to work following a break for parental responsibilities. One lady even read excerpts taken from her diaries written at the times she returned to work following maternity leave. This reassured people that feelings of anxiety about whether their skills are good enough or guilt about wanting to return to work and being a good enough parent and employee are normal. Importantly, the tour also highlighted the benefits of returning to work, including having time to focus on something else and having a support network.
As well as receiving advice about returning to work, tour participants felt that they had had their eyes opened about the number of different departments and roles that the Council can offer, and also about the amount of support available to Manchester residents.
“I thought the tour was a really excellent experience. It gave us a true insight to the environment of the town hall and made the jobs for MCC seem much more attainable.” (tour attendee)
“Meeting the employees … and hearing their stories of how their choices and decisions got to their current career and what difficulties they faced, overcame and eventually benefitted from felt very comforting and inspired a ‘I can do it too’ feeling amongst the group.” (Kathryn Light Fillery, Community Link Worker, Be Well)
Employers who would like to offer a similar work placed tour, or other opportunities for Returners can find out more on our website: https://www.gmcvo.org.uk/caringworkingliving/employers or by contacting Rebecca Harris: Rebecca.harris@gmcvo.org.uk/ 0161 277 1014.
