Portugal - youth employability

The four national training workshops on youth employability that took place in different regions of Portugal, resulted from the participation in a training session held in Tirrenia last summer. Young visually impaired persons, unemployed or looking for their first job, were provided with some useful tools for active job seeking and shared their experiences, expectations, fears and plans for the future. During these four sessions, the participants played the job seeker and employer roles and became aware of the main issues to be considered when preparing a job interview. They were also given some useful suggestions for creating a good resume and writing a letter of application. Above, all, these workshops constituted opportunities for exchanging experiences, where young people with visual impairments could express their difficulties, explain how they overcome them and stress how disability is involved in job seeking. Some participants also shared their experiences of internships and volunteering explaining the advantages and benefits.

It was thus an enriching experience for trainers and participants, and everyone benefited from the acquisition of new knowledge that will certainly be useful in future job seeking.

The participation of two Portuguese representatives in the EBU training session on youth employability was crucial since it provided trainers with the essential instruments for the later sessions held in Portugal.

We believe that providing young people with visual impairments with better skills will be the key to their professional success and full inclusion in the labour market.