Individual Case Study
Jackson (not his real name) is a young man who has had a difficult life; he is on the Autistic spectrum and has spent a number of years in care, being moved from place to place.
He was keen to start a business and was full of ideas, but also experienced a lack of self-confidence and high anxiety.
The Futureneers was approached to work with him to help him to refine his ideas into viable business propositions and build his confidence.
We worked with him over a number of sessions to share some business fundamentals and help him to critically assess his business ideas and look at the business models in more detail.
We helped him to create a framework to assess his ideas and ‘bucket’ them into ideas he could pursue now and those higher risk, higher investment ideas that might be better suited to a later stage.
Jackson became more confident in assessing his ideas and with his mentor began to trial small scale, low investment ideas to hone his skills and give him some practical experience.
He is much clearer about the businesses he could start in the short-term and is working with his mentor to further develop these.
His mentor says Jackson is now “much more focused and is making positive steps towards running his own business” since working with us.
School Case Study
Great Oaks Small School is a small independent secondary school and sixth form, situated between Ramsgate and Sandwich.
The school provides a unique education for students with a wide range of abilities who have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Social Communication Disorder, with or without high anxieties.
We worked in conjunction with their Careers Lead to create an employment readiness programme for sixth form students including recruitment processes, CV development and Interview preparation activities.
The reception to our programme was exceptionally positive with all the students saying that they felt more confident and prepared for real world interviews following our programme.
Lorraine Vincent, careers advisor said:
"This was a great opportunity for our students to encounter a bespoke and meaningful experience of the employment recruitment and selection process. Over the six-week programme, students learnt about the essential and desirable skills and qualities that employers are looking for. They learnt how to create job descriptions and devise interview questions before taking part in mock interview panels and evaluating the applicants. With individual feedback and support they worked on their own CV's and attended a mock interview for their own chosen future career. The evaluation and feedback they all received was invaluable and hugely appreciated - boosting their confidence, highlighting their own unique strengths and preparing them for future encounters with employers."