A warm Mancunian welcome to all my listeners from your host Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. In the fourth episode of Season 9 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, I interview Jan Iceton, Board Chair of Smart Works Greater Manchester. Jan discusses Smart Works' mission to support unemployed women aged 16 to 66 in rebuilding confidence and securing employment. Jan shares her journey in the sector, the pivotal role of Smart Works in empowering women, and the significant impact of their services. Featuring job search coaching, styling sessions, and follow-up appointments, Smart Works boasts a 63% success rate in helping women find jobs within a month. #employability #careers #women #community #GM #manchester #SocialImpact #NonProfit #podcast   Did you know:   ·     There are over 75,000 people unemployed in Greater Manchester which is 5.4% of the population. 41,500 of these are women. ·     Women in Greater Manchester reported applying for an average of 30 jobs, and 40% were out of work for over a year. On average, women reported spending 23 hours a week applying for jobs, but only attended 3 interviews, rarely receiving any feedback on why their applications were unsuccessful. ·      Since 2015, Smart Works Greater Manchester has delivered over 5,000 appointments supporting over 4,000 individual appointments, with 69% succeeding at job interviews. Key resource: Smart Works Greater Manchester   Time stamps of key moments in the podcast episode & transcript: (01:36) Jan's Professional Journey and Support for Women (02:50) Getting Involved with Smart Works (04:13) Smart Works' Mission and Services (05:10) The Styling and Coaching Process (08:05) Impact and Success Stories (09:55) Challenges and Outreach Efforts (11:26) Expansion and Future Goals (16:24) Partnerships and Awards (27:11) Final Thoughts and Contact Information   Listen to the episode and read the transcript on www.meetthemancunian.co.uk