Help with employability in Scotland

If you live in Scotland and want help to find work, stay in work or change career, there are free services that can help.

Get employability support in your area

The No One Left Behind service is Scotland’s employability scheme. The service is delivered by your local council. It’s open to people of all ages and backgrounds.

No One Left Behind can help you to prepare for employment, training, education, volunteering or support career progression. You'll get help from an employability key worker to help you to reach your goals.

No One Left Behind can also link you to other services, such as health, justice, housing and advice services.

You can find contact details for your local council’s employability service on the Employability in Scotland website.

Get help from Skills Development Scotland

Skills Development Scotland is the national skills agency of Scotland.

My World of Work website

My World of Work is Scotland’s career information and advice website. It can help you to:

• choose a career or change career

• find learning and training opportunities

• build a CV

• find and apply for jobs.

You can read more on the My World of Work website.

Careers advice and guidance

You can get free, expert careers advice and guidance from Skills Development Scotland, including:

• advice on routes into a career

• information about the job market in your local area

• help with CVs, job applications and job interviews

• support for parents and carers.

You can speak to a careers adviser over the phone or find your local careers centre on the Skills Development Scotland website.

Improve your skills with learning and training

You can get help to improve skills like reading, writing and numbers, or train for a job through an apprenticeship.

Get help with reading, writing and numbers

The Big Plus is a free service that puts you in touch with a local tutor. They can help you with reading, writing and numbers. The service is run by Skills Development Scotland.

They’ll meet you in a local place, like a library or college, and chat about what you want to learn. You'll agree how often you'd like to meet, either one-on-one or in a group.

You can read more about The Big Plus on the My World of Work website.

Apprenticeships in Scotland

Apprenticeships are a way to gain workplace experience while studying for qualifications. Apprenticeship schemes in Scotland are funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Skills Development Scotland.

Apprenticeships allow a learning provider, such as a college or university, to deliver the knowledge and develop the apprentice’s skills, while the employer provides practical workplace experience. Training can be classroom-based, in a workshop or in a workplace, depending on the subject and learning provider.

Apprenticeships are available to people of all ages. Apprenticeships in Scotland might be suitable for:

• school pupils exploring future options

• school leavers starting out in work

• adults who want to retrain or upskill

• anyone who prefers practical, work-based learning to full-time classroom study.

Read more about apprenticeships.

How to find a job

You can find job vacancies by:

• checking an employer’s website or contacting them directly

• searching online, for example on job board websites such as Indeed, Reed, Monster and CV Library

• signing up for job alerts, for example from Google

• registering with a recruitment agency – you can find recruitment agencies on the Agency Central website

• using networking sites such as LinkedIn.

You can read more about finding a job on mygov.scot.

You can get more tips about where to find job vacancies on GOV.UK.

Help to start a job or attend a job interview

If you get benefits, you could get financial support to start a new job or attend a job interview. You can read more about support to start work or attend an interview on mygov.scot.

If you’re a student or graduate

You should check if your school, college or university has a careers advice and guidance service. They might offer a careers service while you study, and for a certain amount of time after you’ve graduated.

Graduate careers website

The Prospects website is the UK’s biggest graduate careers website. Their job profiles include information on:

• what you’d do in the job

• the skills and qualifications you need

• how to get experience

• how much your salary might be

• how to progress in your chosen job or career. `

The website also lists job vacancies and postgraduate courses.

You can read more about graduate jobs on the Prospects website.

If you’re disabled or have a health condition

There are lots of organisations and schemes to help you find or stay in work.

Access to Work

Access to Work is a UK government scheme which can help you find work or support you to stay in work if you’re disabled or have a health condition. You could get:

• a grant to help pay for practical support with your work

• support with managing your mental health at work

• money to pay for communication support at job interviews.

You can read more about Access to Work on GOV.UK.

Working Health Services Scotland

If you’re self-employed or working for a company with fewer than 250 employees, you can get free advice and health support from Working Health Services Scotland (WHSS). WHSS can help you to:

• manage your health condition to stay in work

• return to work after sickness absence

• prevent further periods of sickness

• access counselling, physiotherapy or occupational therapy.

You can self-refer to Working Health Services Scotland on the Healthy Working Lives website.

Other help to find or stay in work

Skills Development Scotland has more information on:

• practical help to find work or stay in work

• a list of organisations that can help

• financial help you could get

• your rights at work and when applying for jobs.

You can read more about extra support for work on the My World of Work website.

If you’re at risk of redundancy

You can get free support and advice from the Scottish government’s Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE). You can get impartial, expert advice on:

• your rights during redundancy

• managing stress

• your benefit entitlement

• learning and training opportunities

• finding a new job

• CV writing, job applications and interview preparation.

You can find out how to get help with redundancy on the My World of Work website.

You can also read more about your options if you’re facing redundancy.