#jobcoachhero
Andrew proves you can put together a future for yourself and others, even without an IKEA manual.
Name:
Andrew
Occupation:
Job coach
Sector:
Business services
What they needed:
Training
Why:
To become a job coach
Procurement
Guidance
SROI fulfilment
Andrew’s story
Andrew is in his late twenties and has kept his head up despite setbacks. Because of the challenges he faced, life hasn’t always been easy. While studying for a bachelor’s degree in Journalism in 2018, he reached a point where he could no longer manage going to school. He became discouraged and ended up at home. A difficult and exhausting three years followed. He wouldn’t have got through that time without the support of his parents, his support worker and his girlfriend, whom he met in 2018. Spectrum Multimedia & IT in Breda, where he started in 2021, also helped him enormously. Meeting others with similar experiences helped him reconnect with himself.
The support he received made him realise that he wanted to help others too. Getting to know his job coach, Jaap, opened up new possibilities. Jaap sometimes asks Andrew for help or advice when supporting his clients with autism. Andrew has also gone along with Jaap a few times to see what his work as a job coach involves.
Andrew worked at IKEA for a while. He enjoys meeting customers and helping them create the home they want. But his own dream is bigger. When Jaap told him about a job-coaching course he was going to take, everything fell into place. The course would also give Andrew a great opportunity to establish himself as a job coach. He wanted to support people with similar experiences in their working lives and offer a helping hand to those who are struggling. And he has done it! He has already helped place his first candidate.
Andrew is a pseudonym. Everyday Heroes knows his real name.
