National Careers Service

Date Added: 18/11/2020

BESS - Bedfordshire Employment and Skills Adult Learning Update

How we help with learning or support into work

The National Careers Service team, part of BESS Adult Learning, are continuing to provide Central Bedfordshire residents with careers advice. This can include career direction, course advice, CV writing, job search, application forms and interview advice.

This service is free and open to anyone over the age of 19 years old. It is also available to 18 year olds who are not in education, employment, or training.

Appointments take place over the phone or using Microsoft Teams video calling.

Success stories from recent months:

Ethan attended an appointment because he was unhappy in his job. We worked with him to improve his CV. He attended an interview and was offered a new job as a Sous Chef. His new employer commented how impressed he was with his CV.
Lucy had recently been made redundant from her administration job. She had an interest in events roles. We helped her to find an event planning course and tailored her CV to these types of roles. She is now getting more interviews and enjoying her course.
Caroline was furloughed and wanted to use her time to train for a different role. We were able to produce an action plan to help her get into a Teaching Assistant role. She is now completing a ‘Support Work in Schools and Colleges’ qualification and Functional Skills Maths.
Chris was looking for a handyman role. His advisor supported him with his application form and interview. He was offered the job and is really pleased to be back in work.

How we can help with one-to-one support
Are you unemployed and looking for work and need one-to-one support to move forwards?

Have you been furloughed and want to talk to someone about career options?

Are you worried about redundancy and want to upskill or prepare for your next career move?

Do you need to build skills for work or work towards a qualification?

We can help with:

Identifying your skills and areas for development
Finding online courses to help you develop your skills
Making improvements to your CV
Making job applications
Interview preparation

For employment support, provide your details online then one of our advisors will contact you to arrange one-to-one help and support. Alternatively you can email us at [email protected] or call 0300 300 8110.

Arrange one-to-one support
How we can help with job seeking skills
If you are looking for work advisors also deliver group workshops (via Microsoft Teams) to help with job seeking skills.

Introduction to Digital Job Searching

Introduction to using Social Networking sites to search for job vacancies
Tips on improving your online profile
Tips on how to improve confidence in telephone and video interviews

Writing an Effective Personal Statement

Know how to structure a personal statement
Understand what an employer is looking for when reading your personal statement
Know how to give examples using the STAR technique

Interview skills

Understand what an employer is looking for when interviewing candidates
Identify methods for improving your body language and confidence
Know how to effectively prepare for an interview
Ways to answer different styles of interview questions

For skills support, provide your details online then one of our advisors will contact you to get you enrolled on appropriate workshops. Alternatively you can email us at [email protected] or call 0300 300 8110.

Find more information on our Adult Learning web pages

BESS Homepage