employment and skills support

If you are looking for a job, returning to work, considering your next career move, or upgrading your skills and qualifications, or if you are an employer managing employees, this collection of local and national employment and skills support is aimed to help you along the way.

We remain in challenging times for employers and job seekers. There are jobs, learning opportunities and support available in Dorset and our Dorset Skills Board – a group of local employers, educators, and policy makers will continue to play a crucial role in ensuring that skills are high on the local economic and strategic agenda.

 

Opportunity: Looking for work, apprenticeship or work experience?

There are hundreds of high quality job opportunities advertised in Dorset. Start by searching the current vacancies online, find out what tailored support might be available to you and consider starting an apprenticeship or becoming self-employed. 

Start your job search

  • Find you nearest Job Centre Plus to find assistance in preparing for your job search and look for jobs.
  • Career Experts provides a wealth of advice, guides, CV templates and interview tips and is linked to the job site CV Library.
  • You can set up a profile on LinkedIn and set up a job search notification.
  • There are many online job search platforms – use your search engine to find them.
  • Dorset Careers Hub provide information for young people on further education and employment options.

Get additional employment support

  • Contact the National Careers Service
  • If you have disability, health conditions or disadvantages – find out about how Access to Work can support you, including a potential grant to make reasonable adjustments.
  • If you are in the BCP area and have ill health or a disability you can also access support through COAST.
  • In Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth, are economically inactive and face a barrier to work, you can access Seetec Pluss’s Pioneer programme.
  • If you are over 18 and supported by the Community Mental Health Team you can be referred to Dorset Work Matters, a joint project between Dorset HealthCare and Dorset Mental Health Forum which helps people who are accessing mental health services across the county to find paid employment.
  • If you are between 15-24 years old and at risk of, or already out of education, training or work – get personalised support - Dorset Skills for Young People

Kick-start your new career with an apprenticeship

An apprenticeship allows you to work & earn while you learn - if you are 16+, an apprenticeship offers you a direct entry into a career. Many companies in Dorset offer apprenticeship opportunities.

Consider self-employment

Upskill: Want to build up confidence, retrain or gain new skills?

Whatever your situation, maintaining your work readiness and gaining new skills in line with what local employers are looking for is critical to safeguard your own future and help your employment journey. Start with a careers and skills self-assessment and choose from a wide range of virtual and classroom courses below.

Careers and skills self-assessment

Develop your digital and general skills

Basic digital skills are vital to provide access to learning, remote working opportunities, and allow staying in touch and connect with others. Among employers, commonly reported skills gaps are largely in digital, technical and/or complex analytical skills. The following virtual learning resources offer a flexible opportunity to develop and demonstrate the skills and attributes local employers need.

  • Access free, high-quality digital and numeracy courses from the comfort of your home with The Skills Toolkit
  • Learn My Way offers free online learning to develop digital skills.
  • Find out about free and paid courses available locally through future.now’s Digital Skills Directory
  • Digital Hotline in Dorset - for any digital enquiry, wherever you are in Dorset, ring 01305 221048 and select option 2 between 10:00 and 12:00 or leave a message and your phone number and one of the 75 volunteer Digital Champions will get back to you and help with any digital enquiry you might have. 

If you prefer support in person: 

Take your career to the next level with a new course

Choose from hundreds of high quality courses from the excellent universities, colleges and adult training providers in Dorset. They offer world-leading expertise in areas such as health sciences, arts, design, software, tourism, environment, engineering, visual effects, computer animation, fashion, architecture, graphics and many more.

Employee: Uncertain about my job future and getting back to work

We remain in a challenging economic climate. If you are facing employment uncertainty or redundancy there is guidance and support available.

Employer: need help with employment and redundancy?

Here you can find guidance and support so that your business benefits from diverse and talented workforce in Dorset. 

Managing employment and working conditions

Recruiting, employing and developing your staff

Considering redundancies