Volunteer Vice Chairperson

What will you be doing?

Careers Springboard is a registered charity, self-help group, established over 30 years ago in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, staffed entirely by volunteers, providing help and guidance to redundant and unemployed professionals, managers and graduates who seek employment. We currently operate all our meetings and services virtually with Zoom. There is a virtual programme of weekly Monday evening meetings on job search skills such as CV preparation, Internet job search, telephone techniques, networking, LinkedIn, interview preparation, Tell Me About Yourself etc. In addition Careers Springboard provides, free of charge to our members/job seekers, one-to-one services such as CV preparation, interview practice, coaching, counselling. All these services are provided voluntarily by qualified and experienced professionals.. A Vice Chairperson is required to work alongside the Chairperson to motivate and lead the Executive Committee and volunteers in all aspects of the day-to-day running of the charity, the Monday evening meetings and the medium to long term planning of the organisation.   The Vice Chairperson will be a member of the Executive Committee, all of whom are Trustees of Careers Springboard. Time commitment will be to participate in the majority of weekly Monday evening meetings, four committee meetings per year, an AGM  and 2-3 hours admin/managerial work per week.  It is expected that the Vice Chairperson will ultimately succeed the current Chairperson and become the leader of Careers Springboard. Pre-Covid the charity met every Monday at Gerrards Cross. Since March 2020 these face-to-face meetings have been replaced with virtual Zoom meetings.  The charity operates Monday evening meetings each year from January to April, from May to July, and from September to December. Meetings total 39-40 each year. Newly redundant members/job seekers join us each week whilst some leave us because they secure new employment. Current virtual attendance each week is approximately 40 - 50.

What are we looking for?

Our Vice Chairperson will have experience of working with responsibility for a team, preferably within the voluntary and/or HR and/or training and/or job seeking sectors. Enthusiastic leadership will go alongside encouragement and sensitivity in order to move the whole team forward. Confident people skills, above average IT skills, presentation skills as well as an awareness of financial responsibility and practical operational ability will be evident in any new Vice Chairperson appointment. The Vice Chairperson will be expected to attend / participate in the majority of our virtual Monday evening meetings, each of our four executive committee meetings, our AGM and occasional other meetings, e,g, programme committee, strategy committee. A proven ability with written and spoken English will be key.

What difference will you make?

Over 30 years Careers Springboard has enabled 3,500+ professionals and graduates return to employment. The Vice Chairperson will ensure that this success record is continued - with practical support from the Executive Committee and the volunteers and through ongoing fundraising. As part of our executive board you will support and shape our work and strategic direction, as well as help us achieve our purpose to get job seekers back into work. The Vice Chairperson is a vital role, helping to ensure that we can continue our support for job seekers. As a Trustee, you will have a real opportunity to offer your unique skill set to help the strategic progression of the charity. The role of Vice Chairperson is so important to us - not only do we need someone to keep us on track operationally, but even more significantly, we are looking for someone to ultimately succeed our current Chairperson and help us formulate our vision for the future. The Vice Chairperson and Chairperson are key roles in Careers Springboard. Your leadership and commitment will ensure we continue to provide and extend our range of much-needed support and services to our members/job seekers. Our number of participants increases gradually and we want this to continue.