Smart Works Birmingham is a women's charity providing interview preparation support to women in need. We are part of UK charity, Smart Works Charity, and launched in summer 2016.
We provide a tailored session for women who have confirmed interviews. This includes, personal styling to help find them a complete outfit for their interview from our boutique dressing room, and one to one interview coaching to help boost confidence and prepare.
Our aim is to empower women and help them to start to believe in their ability to succeed.
We have supported 350 women since opening in August 2016 and 57% of those we've seen have gone on to get a job.
The service is delivered by a team of professional volunteers, including those helping with interview styling and interview coaches. All of the clothes at Smart Works Birmingham are donated either from retailers, our corporate supporters and individuals.
We support a diverse range of women: any woman can be referred to Smart Works Birmingham as long as they have a confirmed job or apprenticeship interview. Often we support some of the most vulnerable women in society who have faced barriers to employment including victims of domestic abuse, mental health problems, prison, those who have been through the care system. Our service is non-judgemental and for all.
At Smart Works Birmingham we are governed by our own team of trustees and we have our own charity number.
In order to empower women and support them into the workplace, we provide personal styling to find a complete interview outfit and interview coaching. The coaching session enables women to practice interview questions, talk about concerns, address the reasons they have been out of work and help them understand what is expected of them at interview.
With this one to one support, which is delivered by a team of female volunteers, we achieve our goal of supporting ladies back into employment. 57% of those we have seen so far have gone on to get the job.
