The news comes as the age restriction to access the service is lowered to 16, to support as many people as possible who may be struggling to find, or enter employment in the county.
Enterprise Oxfordshire are calling for individuals within the county struggling to find employment or looking to change career direction, to sign up to their free online virtual mentoring program, ‘OxGROW’, and connect with local business experts.
The platform – produced in collaboration with virtual platform hosts, Connectr – provides free employment advice and support to individuals aged 16 and above, connecting them with professional mentors from different sectors in Oxfordshire.
Mentors provide text-based, online mentoring tailored to individual needs, offering insights into the local job market and working environments.
Through the platform, mentees can choose multiple mentors based on needs or engage in longer-term conversations with a single mentor, access learning modules on topics like resilience, confidence building and interview skills and receive support on CV enhancement at their own pace.
There are currently 23 mentors available to assist mentees through the initiative and the certificate for completing the learning modules on the platform is recognised by the Department for Work and Pensions’ Jobcentre Plus in Oxfordshire.
OxGROW is funded by the Social Contract programme, a £1.7million programme of activity funded by the government’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund via Oxfordshire County Council and led by Enterprise Oxfordshire.
Helen Brind – Head of Business and Skills at Enterprise Oxfordshire, said: “We’re so pleased to announce that we’ve lowered the age restriction on OxGROW to include individuals from age 16.
“It’s essential we recognise the challenges of entering and finding employment at any age, as well changing the course of what that career looks like – which is why the initiative also has no upper age limit.
“Our experienced and knowledgeable business experts can offer a wealth of expertise to meet the mentees needs, prepare them for interview, work with them on CVs and job applications, and ultimately give an insight into what life might look like in that career.
“Given the change in lower age limit, we’d now also urge local education providers, parents or anyone supporting an individual of over 16, to pass on details of OxGROW – it’s free career mentoring, which doesn’t come around all that often.”
Kathryn Jackson – a Personal Development Coach who owns her own business in Oxfordshire – is a mentor for the programme and says of her mentoring approach: “I’ll be supportive, I’ll share what’s in my career toolbox with you and I hope that builds confidence to take the first steps towards your goals.
“Sometimes we all just need that cheerleader that supports us and nudges us to take action and that might be exactly what you find in an OxGROW mentor.”
Enterprise Oxfordshire became the new trading name of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) on 1 April.
The change marked the completion of a two-year process that saw the economic development functions – previously led by Local Enterprise Partnerships – altered so that they were to be overseen via a mechanism agreed by respective upper-tier local authorities, in this instance, Oxfordshire County Council.
Oxfordshire County Council now act as Enterprise Oxfordshire’s 100% shareholder, known as a Teckal company arrangement.
Building on its significant legacy as OxLEP, Enterprise Oxfordshire oversees the delivery of a comprehensive set of business, skills, investment and trade support services, as well as supporting a variety of strategies backing Oxfordshire’s economic potential to be delivered in a sustainable and inclusive manner.