Jamie Purdy

An average day consists of working within a small team to support the Children and Young People looked after by the Local Authority. As a member of the team, it is my responsibility to ensure they are supported to attend school, appointments, contact, statutory meetings and any other scheduled events. I work with the C&YP on both a one-to-one basis, and within a group setting - and do so in a positive, energetic manner with the aim of providing a safe, stimulating environment within the home. I also work with the team to complete tasks and chores around the home, cook/prepare meals, run errands and keep the home in good general condition. I believe that all children and young people should be at the centre of, and fully involved in, all decision making processes around their education, well-being, and life in general.

Working within both Children's and Adult's services, I supported a wide variety of individuals in their day to day lives. The majority of my time was spent performing outreach work, supporting individuals to attend public places and events, promoting their independence and self-confidence, and empowering them to live life as they want to. I also gained experience of working within a small residential setting, working alongside development plans, care/support plans, managing challenging behaviour, keeping accurate daily records, and liaising with other organisations. Most of the individuals I supported had ASD.

I worked on an outsourced contract with Sage Accounting in their payroll support department. The role included technical support with the Sage 50 Payroll software for small and medium businesses. 

Working as part of the retentions team, my main duties included conversing with existing customers and trying to ascertain the reasons behind their decision to leave the EE mobile phone network.

Working on behalf of a local energy company, my main duties included dealing with customers who had concerns about their energy bills. This was a temporary post whilst travelling in Australia.

Working as part of the retentions team, my main duties included conversing with existing customers and trying to ascertain the reasons behind their decision to leave the EE mobile phone network. It was a target driven, sales environment with a heavy focus on customer service. I was responsible for tracking my own sales and completing my own admin work. Through this position I became very confident in my ability to connect with people from a wide range of backgrounds, and consider myself highly skilled in conversing in an open and friendly manner with both colleagues and clients, some of whom may be from very different cultures to that of my own. I left this post for a once in a lifetime trip to Australia, where I spent the majority of 2012.

Working in out-of-school and summer clubs with children between the ages of 5 - 13 years old. The main duties included providing a safe yet stimulating environment in which the children were looked after with a high level of fun and care. Liaising with colleagues and parents, part of the role included developing new activities to keep the children occupied, and supervising them during play and on day trips. This job gave me great confidence in my creative abilities and helped me understand some of the difficulties that can arise in public sector work.