Dress for success

The project

The current project is part of the continuity of the mateneen call for projects. Since January 2017, the program had already supported and accompanied 185 women in their integration into the job market. Due to this great success, we continue to organize meetings between our target audience and civil society actors, gatherings that are essential to improve the economic, social, and cultural integration of the BPI family unit.

We thus wish to provide BPI women with a concrete, interactive, and multilingual approach to support their integration into the job market in Luxembourg. For the past year, as meetings have become increasingly difficult to organize, we have been constantly adapting our program by making all relevant, necessary, and possible improvements based on the health situation. In order to maintain a social connection, the workshops take place in person and the volunteers' interventions are done online through personalized mentoring.  To maintain a social bond, the workshops take place in person and the volunteers' interventions are done online through personalized mentoring.

Implementation

In September 2020, we launched a new session of the Work Readiness Program, during which we were able to support around twenty women through workshops, online mentoring, and appointments in stores for the donation of clothing suitable for job interviews. The results of this session are very motivating: in January 2021, 50% of the participants had already found a job or started training.

After having to postpone the current session due to constraints beyond our control, we were finally able to launch it in May 2021 with 16 participants. The next session will start in September 2021.

We are always happy when we see that our work has had a real impact, and that the participants let us know through very personal messages.

Impact of the pandemic

The project, which focused on meeting, the social connections that the Work Readiness Program allowed to create have been suspended by the pandemic. The conviviality of the workshops between participants and volunteers is no longer possible.

We have therefore implemented an individual online mentoring system, which has proven to be a real success. Often, strong bonds are formed between volunteers and participants that go beyond a simple working relationship aimed at finding employment. Often, strong bonds are formed between volunteers and participants that go beyond a simple working relationship aimed at finding employment. True friendships have been born thanks to the program.

In the end, online mentoring during the September session allowed for more in-depth work that is long-lasting and does not prevent the creation of strong bonds, which are very beneficial for the integration of BPI women in the host country. However, in order to maintain social connections, we have committed to continue physical meetings with our participants while respecting health restrictions.

Objective

Each of us, with the means at our disposal, can contribute to a successful integration through our commitment. No obstacle is insurmountable, if one shows selflessness and perseverance. The Work Readiness Program aims to reduce unfamiliarity with the host country and value all the participating actors in the program.