Grow your potential, ladies

A new course aims to support women who are not currently employed but have transferable skills from their life experiences.

Cork City Partnership is inviting women to take advantage of the so-called 'new normal' by signing up for the online course designed to draw on their experience of working in the home and put it to new use.

Beginning in October, Growing Your Potential offers a range of supports from confidence building, to working with online technology, networking, and interview technique.

Participants will also benefit from coaching on presentation skills and dress codes which works to empower women to achieve economic independence. Cork City Partnership can further support participants if they wish to use their new skills to find employment or start their own business.

Siobhán O’Neill of Cork City Partnership said: “There are over 7,000 women in Cork city who identify as working in the home. Amongst that group, there is an unbridled talent that could easily be put to use in a different setting.”

The course is supported by the Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice and Equality said: “Evidence shows that programmes such as these can help to address that imbalance, while providing an outlet for women to network, build confidence and identify new opportunities that will be a match with their skillsets and life experience.”

Cork City Partnership’s PEIL project has found that when women engage on a project like this, their outlook on their employment prospects and their interest in getting a job improves. As many as 50 per cent enter employment after participating.