Claudine Adeyemi has launched free online career support platform CareerEar for her fellow Lambeth residents, using technology to make it easier give and receive career support.
My beginning
“At 16 I was homeless with dreams of being a lawyer but nowhere to turn for advice and support. I studied for my A Levels in filthy B&Bs and then a girls’ hostel surrounded by distractions and hurdles every which way I turned. I wanted to make my mum – who I lost at the age of 5 – proud, and so I stuck with it, achieved excellent grades and joined a top City law firm.
The problem
“But my life could have panned out so different. Thousands of people could achieve their full career potential if only they had that bit of advice, that insight into a particular career path and that encouragement to go for it. So, trying to fix this, I started mentoring people, delivering skills workshops, and trying to connect people looking for help with people in my own network. This wasn’t enough – there was a limit to how many people I could reach and how much support I could offer. I turned to technology.
Innovation
“I’d developed a passion for helping every individual, regardless of background, to fulfil their potential and built CareerEar to help. With CareerEar, you can put all your questions about a particular job or industry to real people working there. You can also explore work-related content that can help you to discover or decide on a career, path and access jobs and other work-related opportunities.
Plans ahead
We’ve received funding from the Department for Education and Nesta (the Innovation Foundation) to be even bigger and better. Over the next few months, we’ll be making sure CareerEar users can learn about the skills they have and discover different jobs that match them.
Get involved
“Anyone can use our platform for free so feel free to sign up to ask questions or answer them!
More information
- “Right now, we’re particularly interested in supporting adults without a degree who are thinking about moving jobs. If that’s you, email us at info@careerear.co.uk with the subject heading ‘Lambeth Resident’ to arrange a chat.”
- Find out about CareerEar on their online information pages
