Jonathan supports Mencap Supported Internship Programme

Jonathan Sanderson, Corecom’s Managing Director, is thrilled to have been chosen as the guest speaker at an event in Leeds for The Royal Mencap Society.

The charity has learners who are on a two year Supported Internship Programme with the aim of finding paid employment at the end of the two years. This programme is for young adults (16-25) who have an EHCP (Education Health Care Plan) and the first year aims to help them understand where their skills and strengths lie, prepares them for adulthood and independent living and hones their ideas about sectors and industries they would like to work in.

Jonathan discussed the variety of roles available in the IT Recruitment sector, explained his personal employment journey and how Corecom was formed, and gave the learners some great insights into target setting to help them plan their goals and how to achieve them. Jonathan helped Mencap’s learners to consider roles in the IT sector, recruitment industry and also aided them in thinking about their own personal goals for their futures. After the session the learners went on to write down their goals and researched the company in detail to analyse the benefits of working for a company such as Corecom.

Jonathan said:

“It was a great opportunity to talk to such an enthusiastic group of young people and to enable them to understand more about the IT recruitment industry and the workplace environment. There are many roles in the IT Recruitment sector and some are not necessarily well known so it is always a pleasure to be able to tell young people just how much the sector offers.”

Feedback from the event showed that the Learners had really enjoyed it, finding it very useful to think about new roles within IT that they had not previously thought of such as software and systems testers.  They learnt that there were a variety of roles that could match with a learner’s personality, such as a desire to analyse problems and solve technical issues.

Sophie Banks, tutor for the Supported Internship Programme at Mencap in Leeds commented:

“We are very grateful to Jonathan for his mentorship role at Mencap and for taking the time to come and talk to our learners about his employment journey, his goals for life and the industry he works in. Our learners greatly benefit from having opportunities to develop their confidence and communication skills. 

“Meeting new people and listening to guest speakers really helps them to consider potential industries and sectors they would like to work within at the end of their programme. Jonathan was patient, open and very helpful in understanding what our learners needed and tailored his approach to meet their needs.”