About Employability Durham

If you are 25 or over, live in County Durham and are not in employment, we may be able to offer you information, advice and guidance.

What we do

We specialise in helping people to get the best out of their lives. For some people that might be starting a new job or doing some training, for others, work might seem a very long way away. We're here to help you look at what you might enjoy and how you might be able to get there. We can help with things like confidence building, getting out of the house, making new friends and starting to think and talk about what your future might hold.

There's no hurry.

Nobody is going to make you get a job tomorrow but we are here to help you when you are ready.
Nobody is going to make you change your circumstances immediately.
Talking to us is the first step to having a brighter future.

Who we can support

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Employability Durham video transcript (PDF) [92KB]

We can help if you're 25 or over, live in County Durham and are:

not in employment, and have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or are unable to start work within the next two weeks
not expected to look for work as a requirement of a benefit you receive
in unstable employment, for example, zero/low hours or risk of redundancy, and you want to improve your circumstances
a carer, a student, claiming a sickness benefit or you're simply not claiming any benefits and may be supported by family or savings

We can not currently help you if:

you hold a visa which states 'no access to public funds'
you're claiming Universal Credit, attend a job centre regularly and need to demonstrate you are looking for work

Durham Locate and other organisations may be able to help you.

What to expect

We will support you every step of the way:

an initial chat by phone - we'll ask you a bit about yourself and your current circumstances, and tell you more about us and how we work
match you to an adviser - they'll be your main contact and will stick with you the whole time you're with us
registering with us - your adviser will arrange an appointment with you to register with us - this can be completed face to face or by video call
at your first appointment - you'll complete some paperwork with us, start to talk about your hopes for the future and set some goals
how often you will meet - this will be up to you and your adviser, based on what you are looking to improve or focus on
keeping on track - your adviser will help you to identify opportunities and tools to keep you motivated
regular review points - this will provide you with an opportunity to look at what you've achieved and make any changes to your plan
after six months - you'll be able to look back with your adviser and see how far you've come!