Some young people have stopped expecting anyone to turn up. You do.
A morning in a Colchester youth venue with a young person who has been out of learning and work for a year. A multi-agency meeting at midday. An afternoon in Clacton, planning someone's first step towards college or a job. Then home, in good time.
That is the work of a Youth Personal Worker on Essex Work Ready, supporting young adults aged 16 to 26 living with severe mental illness who are not in education, employment or training, or are at risk of it. If you have supported young people as an adviser, coach, mentor, youth worker or careers professional, much of what you do will transfer.
The opportunity
You will hold a caseload of around 25 to 30 young people across North Essex, meeting each one face to face, building trust, agreeing goals they want and following through to a course, training, work-readiness activity or a job. You will work alongside CAMHS, mental health teams, Early Intervention in Psychosis services, ARMS and youth organisations so the support fits together.
The young people are in Colchester, Clacton and the towns and villages of Tendring, and you go to them. This role cannot be done from home. You will drive between youth venues, partners and community settings most days, so you need to live close enough to cover North Essex daily and still get home safely in reasonable time. A long commute followed by a day on the road is not good for anyone's wellbeing. Some young people will cancel or go quiet, and you will still work to engagement and outcome targets, manage safeguarding, follow lone-working procedures and keep accurate case notes. If steady progress towards real outcomes motivates you, you will do well here.
What you'll be doing
- Meeting young people one to one in safe community settings and building a plan they own.
- Turning goals into action plans and practical steps towards education, training or work.
- Joining multi-agency meetings and sharing information professionally with partners.
- Talking to local employers and referral networks so opportunities and referrals keep coming.
- Spotting and escalating safeguarding concerns, and keeping case notes accurate and up to date.
What you'll need
Essential (you need all of these):
- Paid experience working with young people or vulnerable groups, for example in youth work, mentoring, education, employability, careers advice or mental health support.
- Evidence of building trust with people who may be wary of services, while keeping professional boundaries.
- An understanding of the barriers young people with mental health needs face in learning and work.
- A track record of delivering against your own targets, with results to show.
- Evidence of reliable working: keeping appointments, being on time and following through.
- Experience communicating clearly and working in partnership with other professionals.
- A valid driving licence, reliable access to a vehicle and business-use insurance, with the ability to travel across North Essex daily, including rural areas, from a base within realistic reach.
Desirable (welcome, not required): employability or careers coaching experience; supporting young people with mental health needs; an understanding of special educational needs (SEN). From recruitment, employer engagement, or retail or hospitality management? Show us where you have supported young people.
What good looks like in this role
These describe how we work here. They are not extra requirements.
- Deliver results:you review progress across your caseload, notice when someone is drifting, own it and change your approach.
- People and Communication:you coach young people to make their own choices and keep conversations with families and professionals clear and respectful.
- Get it right:you are honest, follow safeguarding practice, ask for another view when a risk feels unclear and bounce back from setbacks.
- Strategic direction:you build lasting relationships with young people and partners, and try something new when the usual approach does not land.
Why join Get Set UK?
Essex Work Ready is local work. Our Essex team care about their community and take pride in the difference the service makes to young people a few miles from home. The work is challenging, and that local connection makes it rewarding.
Get Set UK is part of Palladium, which operates in more than 50 countries. Palladium belongs to the Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc. (GISI) family of companies, which reported approximately $18 billion in annual revenue for 2025 and serves clients across more than 100 countries. That scale and stability sits behind every conversation you have in North Essex.
If you live within reach of North Essex and want to help young people here move forward, apply and tell us about the people you have supported and the progress they made.
What you get
- Annual leave: 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing with service. For a full-time employee working five days per week in England, this normally equates to 33 days annually, five more than the statutory minimum. Entitlements are pro-rated where applicable.
- Healthcare and wellbeing:Vitality health and wellbeing support, including GP services, mental health support and physiotherapy.
- Employee assistance:A confidential 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, including up to six counselling sessions annually and legal, financial and debt guidance.
- Pension and shares:Workplace pension, with salary sacrifice available subject to eligibility and scheme rules. Access to a share buy scheme.
- Health and fitness:Up to 360 annually through IncentFit for eligible activities.
- Discounts:Wellbeing, retail, fitness, travel and mobile discounts, including 20% off eligible EE mobile plans.
Recruitment process
Apply through our recruitment platform and complete the short initial questionnaire. If you start your application through Indeed or LinkedIn, you will still need to complete this step before we can review your application.
We assess applications against the essential criteria and the evidence provided. Keep your CV concise and show what you personally did, owned, improved or delivered.
Shortlisted applicants may complete a recruitment call, Teams conversation, role-related assessment or hiring-manager interview, potentially including a practical exercise.
Preparation, responsiveness and attention to detail matter. Any offer is conditional on satisfactory applicable pre-employment checks.
Safer recruitment
Get Set UK is committed to safer recruitment practices to help protect our colleagues and the people we support.
As part of our recruitment process, you will be required to provide a complete and accurate history of your employment and other relevant activity for the previous five years, including explanations for any gaps, together with referee details covering the previous three years.
Please ensure the information you provide is complete and accurate, as we may be unable to progress your application until our safer recruitment requirements have been completed.
Depending on the role, further pre-employment checks may include references, right-to-work checks, DBS checks and/or other appropriate vetting.
Eligibility and inclusion
You must have the full right to work in the UK. Sponsorship is not available for this role.
Get Set UK is a DisabilityConfident and Equal Opportunity Employer. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout recruitment.
Additional information
We reserve the right to close applications early, so we encourage early applications. Get Set UK is a Disability Confident and Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals and are committed to supporting physical and mental wellbeing at work. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the recruitment process. This role is subject to satisfactory recruitment checks and a commitment to safeguarding learners and clients. Get Set UK does not accept unsolicited CVs from agencies.