16 January 2023. We launched the 4th series of our Employment Support for Migrants series, with participants from Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, Kuwait to learn more about building confidence as an important life and job skill.
Thank you to Bahar Mouland from the Workers Educational Association for leading this session.
[Note-taking during the Confidence Building Workshop session led by WEA tutor Bahar Mouland and joined by our 4th cohort of participants from Turkey, Iran, Nigeria and Kuwait on 13 January 2023.]
It was moving to hear each participant’s unique experience of trying to settle in the UK. In their different stories, one thing was common – adjusting to life in a new country can be difficult.
But it doesn’t have to be impossible. Feeling confident in one’s own potential can make navigating a new place and other challenges faced by migrants a lot easier.
As Dr Bonny Ling, WBI’s Executive Director, highlighted:
Building self confidence is something that everyone can appreciate, no matter one’s own circumstance in the job search process. Getting rejected, dusting off the disappointment and trying again (and again) is really hard. We all need confidence and resiliency to deal with rejections, to not be afraid of failures and keep trying again.
We are all familiar with this.
The feeling of worry – about finding a job and a purpose, developing strong relationships, being understood, etc. – is something we have all experienced one time or another. For migrants, this combined with the pressure for integration can be an extra challenge, which in turn can lead to social isolation.
Participants revealed a desire to connect with their surroundings, once the initial shock of their current circumstances has passed. These efforts, however, can be negatively impacted by a lack of confidence.
Through helping participants to build their self-esteem and providing them with information on coping-mechanisms against emotional distress, the aim of our workshop is to boost migrants’ success in the job market.
In the weeks after, we will make our way through a range of hard and soft skills training sessions, designed to equip participants with the right skillset for nailing their professional goals. Next up: a session on “How to Manage Time Effectively to Achieve Goals!”
Thank you also to City College of Portsmouth for continued support.
