As part of The Big Help Out we’ve partnered with recruitment specialist Jak from Top Star Recruitment to help you find your dream job!

Jak will discuss your career hopes and dreams to ensure we understand what your perfect role looks like. Jak will review your CV, discuss your transferable skills and give you interview hints and tips. You’ll also get free of charge pre-interview tests if you wish, to ensure you’re fully prepared and supported. Best of all? Jak will pro-actively contact businesses that suit you, to help you find your next job.

To book a free introductory session with Jak, email jak@topstarrecruitment.co.uk or call 0121 746 3123 and quote ‘OSC’.

We know that people struggle to sell their skills and experience to employers when looking for a new job. Be it in a CV, LinkedIn profile or in a job interview, it is a challenge many people face which is why we teamed up with Career Professional, Maria to offer free services to people as part of The Big Help Out.

Maria runs Clear from the Crowd, a business that offers advice and support for people looking for their next job. Over the last couple of months Maria has helped dozens of people with their CVs, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, job applications, interview techniques and more.

Whilst the free sessions are now closed, we encourage you to contact Maria for any career related advice via her website, here.

Mindfulness Coach, Emma, who runs Project Awesome Life, is offering a number of FREE resources as part of The Big Help Out.

• Emma’s ‘Wheel of life’ goal setting exercise is an opportunity to pause from rushing through life and reflect on where you are at currently, where you would like to be, and what areas you would like to focus on improving. Download the worksheet for free here.
• If you’ve always wanted to try meditation but not quite sure where to start, Emma’s video here will guide you through a very short meditation to help you tune into your attention, breath and focus. It’s less than 5 minutes long, so you can even do it at your desk!
• It’s Emma’s mission to ensure you make the most of your life and that means at some point you have to stop settling and making do, you have to at least look at what other path you could take that might just have you start living that awesome life. If you’re stuck in a career rut, we’ve got a free worksheet for you to download here, that asks some difficult but important questions and is the first step to finding out how you could live a happier life. Dig deep!
• We’ve all got an inner critic, watch the short video here to understand yours and find out how to separate yourself from that voice.

If you’d like to work on your mindset, practice mindfulness and start living an awesome life feeling fun, happier and more content, check out Emma’s brand new mindfulness course – 52 mindfulness and mindset videos,  downloads and meditations for just £27 here.

Whilst the free one to one sessions as part of The Big Help Out have now closed, you can contact Laura about her career coaching services direct on lorsmac89@hotmail.com or via her LinkedIn page, here.

If you’re looking for help in getting your career off the ground, whether that be progressing in your current job or embarking on a brand new challenge, we can help.

Not only do we offer courses that can transform your future, all of our students receive exclusive employment support, including:

• A free CV critique – you’ll receive a link where you can upload your CV to receive a completely free list of recommendations on how you can improve your CV to be in with a better chance of landing an interview.
• Job hunting support – we work with a nationwide recruitment company who will help you find your dream job.
• An employability guide – developed to help you understand the skills employers are looking for from their current workforce and when recruiting. This is to help you prepare for an interview and is usually available exclusively for OSC students, however for a limited time only we’re offering this as free help and advice for everyone. Download the guide here.
• Career guides – available for free here, where you can find out everything you need to know about certain career paths in case you’re thinking of a change of career but you’re not sure where to begin.

As soon as you enrol with Open Study College you’ll be able to take advantage of all of these benefits and more to help you kickstart your career. 

We’re offering mental health support and guidance as part of The Big Help Out as we know COVID-19 has impacted people’s mental health as much as it has physical health. So it is with thanks to Mind we have two e-booklets available to you to download for free which we hope can be of help to you, your friends or your families.

• How to be mentally healthy at work
•  The Mind guide to seeking help for a mental health problem

Click here to provide your details and you will be sent both guides via email immediately.

We also have a number of articles on our website that may help you, particularly if you’re currently studying:

• How to unwind
• How to balance studying with life
• How studying could help your mental health

If you’re struggling, please speak to someone, whether it’s a friend, a family member, your GP or a charity such as Mind.

Has your career been turned upside down following the events of the last 12 months? Our scholarship scheme was developed specifically to help those people who have had their career halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scholarship programme is open to anyone who has been furloughed or made redundant because of the pandemic – regardless of current level of education, age or subject you’re interested in.

The scheme includes both full and part-funded scholarships and all submissions are subject to a robust application process including a 2-stage judging panel.

To submit your interest, complete your details here and a member of our scholarships team will give you a call to discuss your application.

We understand that businesses have had to make difficult decisions and continue to do so. That’s why we want to support businesses and the individuals affected by furlough or redundancy as a result of COVID-19.

We’ve supported a number of companies with their redundancy packages, enabling them to offer courses as part of an enhanced redundancy package which can help employees with future employment and improved job prospects.

Our courses can also be used to help you upskill your remaining workforce.

Business partnerships benefit from volume discounts for multiple enrolments (5+) and we can get affected staff set up within 24 hours.

For more information, contact Robbie Bryant, who can discuss your requirements to create a tailored package for your business on robbie.bryant@openstudycollege.com

As part The Big Help Out we surprised three lucky students with golden tickets in their study packs between Monday 18^th and Friday 22^nd January.

Each golden ticket contained a £50 Amazon voucher!

This was just another way we could help people out during this time. Keep your eyes peeled for the next giveaway!