Over 30 new customers signed up to our Directions service following our Careers in Housing event

More than 30 customers signed up to our employment service - Directions - this week following our Careers in Housing event designed to help them find a job in the social housing industry.

Around 100 people came to our offices today for our sold-out event to see what opportunities were available and here first hand from colleagues what working in housing is like.

To put on the event, we joined forces with other local social housing landlords Jigsaw, Great Places and ForHousing as a way to help us reach our commitment with Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHP) to recruit 20% of our workforce from social housing customers by 2034.

The event was a chance to spread the message that social housing customers can rent a home from their landlord and work for them too.

Billie-Jo Wareing is our Home Ownership Administrator but is also our customer, living in an FCHO property in South Chadderton. 

Billie said: “I wasn’t aware I could work for FCHO as well as be a customer. I simply presumed this would be a conflict of interest, so I was surprised when I was told about an apprenticeship opportunity. It was a customer services apprenticeship and my caseworker explained that I’d be brilliant for it because of my transferrable customer service skills. I carried out the apprentice with FCHO over two years and achieved a distinction and applied for a permanent role in FCHO’s Contact Centre and was successful. From there I took a secondment in FCHO’s Allocations team and now I work as a Home Ownership Administrator in the Home Ownership team."

She continued: "Working at FCHO has been the best job I have had. The level of support you receive from colleagues is unmatched. The support from our Directions team has been invaluable, with the team continuing to help me with interview prep, tweaks to my CV and general advice when I have applied for internal roles and secondments.

"I wasn’t aware of all the job opportunities in housing at all – I thought there were roles to do with your home and that was it. Roles such as repairs operatives, tenancy managers etc. I had no idea about the other side to housing which takes a holistic approach to customers and their families and looks at how their whole lives can be improved."

Mark Harrison and Billie-Jo Wareing

Our Employment and Skills Manager, Mark Harrison, said: "It was a great event with a fantastic turn out and amazing to see the collaborative work taking place between us and other Greater Manchester housing providers to improve the lives of residents not just in Oldham but across the region.

"It's really good to see just how many people are interested in working in the housing sector, but who didn’t realise the opportunities that are available. If we’re able to take employ local residents who live in our properties – we’re helping them through employment, but they’re also adding so much value to us as a housing association.

"They provide a skillset and unique lived experience of social housing which unlocks a deeper knowledge and understanding within our organisation."

One customer who attended the event is Chadderton-based Shopna Begum who has been our customer for more than 20 years. 

After a period caring for her family and then working as a pharmacy assistant in a chemist, Shopna was ready for a fresh start and wanted to move into a paid role working with children.

She came to our Directions team for support and her Employment Support Advisor, Bex, created her a CV, researched relevant vacancies and helped her apply for teaching assistant roles. In May last year, Shopna successfully secured a position and today she’s thriving in her new job. She says Bex’s tailored support made all the difference.

Customer Shopna Begum

Shopna said: “She helped me understand the qualifications and skills I had, and she helped me look at job adverts, complete applications and prepare for interviews.

“Most of all, she gave me the confidence to believe in myself. That was an important step and has got me where I am.”

If you're one of our customers and you're looking for a job, volunteering opportunities or training, or simply looking to further your career, get in touch with Directions team - we'd love to help.