Pictured above: Michael Flaherty secured a jobs hat-trick
with support from Pertemps People Development Group
An inspirational Birmingham man who faced the nightmare of
unemployment has bagged himself a hat-trick of jobs including
coaching vulnerable city youngsters to play football.
Michael Flaherty was offered an incredible three jobs in one
week after receiving help from employment and training experts
Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG,) including landing two
dream jobs as a football coach.
The 55-year-old married man, from West Heath, had been out of
work for three months before he was put in touch with PPDG who have
helped thousands of people in Birmingham and across the UK get back
into work.
And within seven weeks Michael was back on the employment
track.
Michael was placed on the Flexible Routeways (FRW) programme to
assist him in finding work. PPDG helped him write his CV and brush
up on interview techniques and offered advice on applying for
jobs.
And this resulted in him beating 500 applicants to secure one of
11 jobs at the new Travelodge Birmingham Central Bull Ring Hotel as
a night porter which he started in April.
He was then offered coaching work for step2sport who coach
football to pupils in schools. Michael has also started voluntary
work for the Christian charity YMCA in Northfield, Birmingham,
where he is helping to get vulnerable youngsters between the ages
of 13 and 17 off the streets and playing football.
Michael, who was born and bred in Birmingham, emigrated to
Canada in 1986. While he was there he worked as a tool maker and
also qualified as a football coach. He returned to England in 2007
and worked for a security firm but was made redundant last
November.
He said: "I have always been a hard worker so to be made
redundant at the end of last year was a massive blow to me. But I
was determined to get back into work and with the help of PPDG I
was able to achieve my aim. To be offered three jobs in one week
was just fantastic. Two of them are dream jobs for me as a football
coach.
"I have already started coaching for the YMCA in the Lee Bank
area and I am putting together a team to take part in a football
tournament.
"The players come from disadvantaged backgrounds and are
vulnerable young people. We are aiming to get them off the streets
and away from gang violence and to take part in sport. I am also
looking to help train some of the older players to be coaches
themselves so they can be inspirational figures for some of the
younger children.
"I am so delighted to be back in work and to have the
opportunity to coach football and help improve lives for these
vulnerable youngsters."
The YMCA has also asked Michael to help raise money for them and
he is planning to run a car boot sale.
Rachel Dewar, employment coach at PPDG's Newtown Advancement
Centre, said: "Michael is a truly inspirational man. He showed so
much determination to secure a job. He was willing to accept
anything to get back into employment but in the end he managed to
secure his dream job of becoming a football coach.
"I assisted Michael in helping writing cover letters and
tailoring his CV so that the skills he had were clear to employers
when applying for suitable work. The rest of it was down to him.
Michael started off unemployed but within seven weeks he had
secured not just one job but three. He is an inspiration."
The FRW programme is an employability programme supporting
unemployed into work. The programme assists with job search,
interview techniques, telephone techniques, computer skills and CV
writing.
PPDG's team of employment experts provide advice on benefits,
confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview
preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In
partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus,
PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training
initiatives and many ESF funded programmes. More than 100,000 job
seekers have been helped into sustained employment by the company
since the projects began. It has trained 130,000 people in
vocational skills, and over 175,000 people have benefitted from
professional information, advice and guidance services.
For more information about Pertemps People Development Group,
please visit their website here: www.ppdg.co.uk