Staff who came forward to join the North East London COVID Vaccination programme workforce have played a vital role in improving the health of local people. It is not an understatement to say we could not have vaccinated the community at the rate we did without them. They brought energy, enthusiasm and skills from other careers and walks of life. For many, we hope this is just the beginning of a career in health and social care - and we want to make that transition easy.

So the Trust, as the lead employer for the region, has been offering a range of support to help the vaccination workforce take the next step on their health and social care career path. An online careers event took place to ascertain what areas of work appealed to staff and to provide support, top tips and ideas to get the job of their dreams. The event offered inspirational stories and talks from peers who have already secured a new role. Trainers from the People and Culture team talked about how to write an impressive application, how to prepare for an interview, and how to battle their nerves and perform well in the interview room.

The Trust is offering ongoing help and support with staff being offered up to five 30 minute coaching sessions.

Christiana is one of the vaccinators who attended coaching sessions and has now started a new job. She said,

“I didn’t have any problems in filling in application forms. However, for the actual interview, I freaked out easily. If I didn’t get my head round the questions, I found it hard to finish the whole interview. This has been a barrier for me, even when thinking of applying for a job. I am grateful to the retention team for what they have done, and the impact they have had on my career. Within one or two months, I was able to go through an interview successfully.”

You can view recordings of sessions and stories from the Online Careers Day on the ELFT website. Just go to ‘Working for us’ and scroll down.