Participants of the fifth cohort to complete World of Work Training with the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector have been encouraged to use the knowledge and skills acquired during their time in the programme to shape their future.
Graduate of the Job Start Plus initiative, Nico Grant, shared these words of advice as he delivered remarks at the ceremony to relaunch the national first jobs programme at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Wednesday.
Mr. Grant successfully completed the programme and is currently employed at one of the island’s leading retail companies, where he is known for his excellent customer service and work ethic.
As he addressed the 25 participants, who received certificates, Mr. Grant urged them not to allow failure to influence their life choices and to grab any available opportunities.
He shared that he was at a low point in his life when he was unemployed and unable to further his education, when he received an email about Job Start Plus. At first he was sceptical, but decided to sign up for the programme.
“After all the failures, after all the times I was turned down, after my past mistakes that I [made when] I applied for jobs and colleges, I finally heard ‘yes, you have been accepted to the programme’. You can’t imagine the amount of joy that I had when I finally heard yes …to be trained in an environment where I knew I could grow,” he said.
Mr. Grant noted that in addition to preparing him for the world of work, Job Start Plus helped him to realise his potential and facilitated his transformation from timid to a confident young man.
It is with this in mind that he urged his peers not to be consumed by any obstacles they may encounter throughout their lives.
“It’s easy to be strong when everything is going your way. It is in times [of] struggle … that your strength is going to be tested. When struggles come your way, you have two options: give up and let struggles define your whole being, or find a way and grow stronger through it and tell the story of the life you overcame,” he said.
The World of Work Training, conducted in conjunction with the Job Start Plus initiative, focuses on preparation for the work force, and personal development skills.