This week a second group startsin Zaandam, and two new cities will follow within six months. Erik Lambooy of Netwerkcafé Amsterdam devised the initiative: the Relay Network.
People Have Forgotten How You Enter Somewhere
The idea is that a group of unemployed people over 50 are looking for a job for one anotherfor an eight week period. They are agents for others and themselves, they also have another person who goes looking for them for job openings in a company, hence an estafette. “Many people who have worked at a company in permanent employment, for example for ten years, have forgotten how to sell themselves and how to get inside somewhere”, says Lambooy.
It is easier to call or approach an employer for another person rather thanfor yourself, he says. “In addition, you will be forced to have your strengths clearly in mind: what are you good at and what you add to a company? By talking with each other, you learn to focus better.”
40% Are Finding a Job
It seems to help. From June, last year, 40% out of 120 people found a job. 40 people are still waiting for results.
How big the success is exactly, it is difficult to say. According to the UWV about three out of ten jobs in the age group 50-54 years are finding a job. For the age group 60-64 years, however, the opportunity to find employment within one year is minimal. “What we are seeing is that people again have fun in applying for jobs. Many people lose their energy after some time and see the search for a job as an unpleasant obligation”, says Lambooy.
People ShouldDo Something with Their Knowledge
The idea arose from a course at the UWV. “Together with six other people that we actually put through that course, we started a network-café in which we invite all kinds of speakers and try to help each other. At each monthly meeting now we are having about 100 members”, he says.Every six months, there are twice as many new groups.
Companies find it strange if a stranger asks whether the company has a job for someone else. “We are not asking whether there are jobs, because then you get ano”, saysLambooy. “From the work relay we are looking for opportunities to drink a cup of coffee and to see if the company or the job suits someone. So it is to orientate and look around. And most people find it to be a very sympathetic idea”.
Soon, a group starts in Zaanstad-Waterland. “We always want to double the number of initiatives. Many people lose the energy to continue to apply and they view it as an unpleasant obligation. We want them to have fun with it again”.
Source:http://www.rtlnieuws.nl
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