Skills and employment

Find out about ways to maximise your income by showing you how to make sure you are being paid fairly, supporting you to develop skills so you can get better paid work, and helping you find new employment opportunities.

Whether you’re unemployed, want to earn more money or want to a change of career, there’s lots of support available to help you find the right opportunities.

The council runs a range of programmes designed to help people who are unemployed get back into employment.

Job seekers can take advantage of a Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card giving 50% off train travel to boost job searches and help job seekers get back to work. Find out whether you are eligible.

You can also get help from the Jobcentre Plus or find out about apprenticeships.

Get free support to develop your CV and apply for jobs by emailing skills.matching@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

Opportunities with Portsmouth City Council – visit our careers portal to see current job vacancies, find out about apprenticeships, or sign up for our temporary recruitment agency for temporary roles at the council and other local authorities, charities and the NHS.

Adult social care – would you like a job where you make a difference? Why not consider a job in home care, helping people in your community who need a bit of support to stay independent in their home. Read more about the role and apply.

If you want to boost your job prospects, or just learn something new, we can help you find the right training to develop the skills you need.

Community Learning Service Our community learning service provides courses for qualifications to improve your job prospects, together with adult learning courses and workshops including cooking on a budget, digital skills and health and wellbeing.

Adult education and training providers in Portsmouth

The Kings Trust ‘Get Into‘ programmes provide training for people aged up to 30 years old to get into employment.

The Solent Growth Partnership can help you explore job and training options. They offer free training bootcamps and other useful resources.

Skills for life. You can also find information about opportunities to develop new skills from essential numeracy to advanced technical qualifications through Skills for life. Many of the courses are free.

Read Easy helps adults who struggle with reading by providing trained reading coaches to work on a one to one basis with anyone needing help. Readers and coaches meet for half an hour twice a week either in a local library or online. The service is free, confidential and non judgemental. If you, or someone you know, would like help to improve reading telephone: 07926 984697 or email: portsmouthcoordinator@readeasy.org.uk

Share Portsmouth offer free workshops to help women with DIY skills.

• Drilling 101 – The Basics of Drilling
• Plugs 101 – Changing Fuses & Wiring Plugs
• Sawing 101 – How to Cut Wood Safely

More workshops are being planned for development in 2025. Find out how you can join.

The HIVE directory lists organisations and groups that can support you getting back to work, just choose ‘getting back to work’ from the drop down.

Job fairs and networking events will be added here when we have information.

If you’re employed, it’s important to make sure you’re being correctly paid for the work you do.

If you’re not sure whether you’re being paid fairly:

• Check your payslip to make sure you’re receiving at least the minimum wage for your age.
• Check your tax code and any deductions being taken from your pay are correct. Find out more about deductions

If you don’t have a trade union but need advice on your rights at work, you can contact the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100.

If you’re worried about losing your job, contact your trade union if you have one. If you’re not a member of a trade union, you can get advice on your rights at work by contacting the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100.

If you’re being made redundant, visit our redundancy support for employees page for a wide range of advice. You can find out about your rights on the Government’s website. Specialist help is available before you’re made redundant, and for up to 13 weeks after redundancy. You can also get help from the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response service to:

• write CVs and find jobs
• find information on benefits
• find the right training and learn new skills
• organise work trials (if you’re eligible)
• get any extra help at work if you’re disabled, for example Access to Work

Apprenticeships – find an apprenticeship program in England