A very successful fortnight of job shadowing in County Clare was finished with a flourish with Shannon Chamber hosting a job shadow for Kathleen McAuliffe in their busy office in SkyCourt Shannon last week.
This is the first year that Shannon Chamber of Commerce has got involved in the Job Shadow initiative, which is aimed at giving jobseekers an insight into people’s day-to-day jobs and work environment.
Kathleen McAuliffe’s goal is to find an administration or receptionist role in a busy office, where there is plenty of buzz to suit her wonderfully outgoing nature.
Shannon Chamber is a dynamic office, and chief executive Helen Downes wanted Kathleen to see first-hand the different aspects of the chamber’s work from managing a team of staff to general administration, organising events, running a SkillNet programme, social media and marketing communications.
It was also an opportunity for the Shannon Chamber team to audit the accessibility of their offices to people who use a wheelchair.
Shannon Chamber, with EmployAbility Clare, are lead partners in the Mid-West region’s disability confidence campaign, encouraging businesses to provide better services to customers and be confident in recruiting people with a disability. Both organisations see the benefits of job shadow opportunities to both businesses and jobseekers.
“It’s the simple things, facilitating a job shadow opportunity, offering a site visit to your premises, meeting jobseekers and telling them about your business, your staff, your work environment and culture. These all give positive messages to jobseekers with a disability and build their knowledge and confidence” said Helen Downes.
“We are encouraging businesses of all sizes to think about how they can become more inclusive. It can be very rewarding and a good two way process. You get to see a person’s interest, initiative, motivation and potential.
“We were delighted to have Kathleen join us for a morning in the office. She spent time with each team member and got to see what was involved in the different jobs undertaken by the Chamber. We believe Kathleen found it as beneficial as we did and we wish her well in her search for job placement as she has so much to offer a prospective employer.”