#90: My experience working as an IPS Employment Specialist

Graduate Job Podcast

Hello and welcome to the 90th episode of the Graduate Job Podcast. Today is the follow up episode to episode 86 where I spoke with Martina Gibbons, recruitment lead for IPS Grow. As a reminder, IPS stands for Individual Placement and Support, and it is an NHS backed graduate scheme which is rapidly expanding and looking for graduates to join as Employment Specialists who will help to place people with mental illness in work. In that episode we explore IPS Grow and its application process in detail, have a listen HERE if you haven’t already done so. In the episode today we build on the first interview and go deeper as I speak with Charlotte Knighton, who has been working as an Employment Specialist in London for the last year. Charlotte spills the beans on what it is really like to work as an Employment Specialist for a trust in London, and what it is that you can expect to be doing on a day to day basis. We explore the types of clients you will be working with and their range of mental healthcare conditions. We touch upon the skills you really need for the role, and how you can prepare yourself ahead of your application. Charlotte shares her experience as a graduate going through the application process, and her top tips so you can stand out from the crowd, including her absolute number one tip that you need to make sure you are following. No matter where you are in your job search, if you’ve thought of applying to IPS or not even heard of them, this is an episode which you aren’t going to want to miss. Now the only link you need to remember from today is www.graduatejobpodcast.com/IPS2, as that has all of the links to everything which we discuss and a full transcript which you can download, so make sure you head on over there.

And don’t forget to check out today’s sponsor who are our friends over at CareerGym.com. Career Gym is the number one place for you to undertake all of your psychometric tests which you will face when you apply for a graduate job. No matter what graduate job you apply for you’re going to have to face some type of verbal reasoning, situational judgement, and working style tests. You can practice these at CareerGym.com. Use code GJP to get 20% off all of their tests!

MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

• What it is really like to work as an Employment Specialist
• What you can expect to be doing on a day to day basis
• The types of clients you will be working with in the role.
• Insider secrets of what you can expect at the IPS Grow assessment centre
• Top tips for how to impress during the presentation
• The challenges you will face as an Employment Specialist
• Charlotte’s experience of going through the application process and her top tips for how you can stand out from the crowd.

Don’t forget, also make sure you check out https://www.graduatejobpodcast.com/subscribe which links to how to subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and by email. So, something for everyone there.