Posted on Thursday 31st October 2024
Maysel Yankey
A young mum and professional events manager is now in her dream public service job thanks to a county council work experience placement.
Maysel Yankey, from Lichfield, secured a temporary full-time, paid job in the county council’s performance and change team, after completing just six weeks of her twelve-week Open Door voluntary work placement.
The programme, which is part of the Staffordshire Jobs and Careers Service, has helped hundreds of people from every walk of life to get the experience they need to find a job or change career.
Talking about her background and new job, Maysel said:
"I have a master’s degree in international Tourism & Hospitality Management, as well as speaking a number of languages, but always wanted to work in the public sector and needed a chance to show it.
Due to the nature of my husband’s job, we relocated to Lichfield and I really wanted to show what I could do. My CV was good and I have a lot of transferable skills, but just lacked that experience of working to support performance and better services. So, the Open Door programme was an incredible opportunity for me to learn, grow and change career.
I’m now four months into paid work and I am supporting different areas of the council to optimise their performance, but also make sure that residents have the best opportunities to have their say in how the county’s beautiful green spaces are as accessible as possible. It’s a very varied role and I love it. I would really recommend the Open Door programme to anyone.”
Philip White, deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“We’re very pleased to have Maysel on board. Her skills, experience and enthusiasm are already making a very real difference.
The Open Door programme really is for anyone who wants to get a foot on the career ladder, or like Maysel, wants to completely change careers – because it really is never too late, whatever stage of their career.
We’ve snapped Maysel up ourselves this time, but our Open Door programme has supported hundreds of different people in placements in many different businesses and organisations across the county.
It’s all part of our wider fully funded recruitment offer to businesses, that focuses on finding the right work experience or job candidate, not just for the role, but also for the culture of the business. We have a number of very experienced and very capable candidates that just need that chance to show what they can do.”
Watch: Maysel talking about getting her job in this short video.
Further information about the fully funded and fully managed expert recruitment package offered to business by Staffordshire Jobs and Careers is available on their website.
Anyone interested in finding a work experience placement to get a job, progress their career or swop careers entirely can find out more on the Open Door Staffordshire webpage.