Get Britain Working: ‘I want to get a job but I don’t know how’

Amy Wilkes, 23, from Coventry has a degree in criminology, policing and investigation but said she gets no responses when she applies for jobs.

“It’s really frustrating, soul-destroying and gutting,” said Amy, who has been volunteering with the witness service for over a year.

“It is very hard to find a job, let alone a career,” she said.

The last job she applied for was in victim support, but she was told she didn’t have enough experience.

“What more can I give? I have a relevant degree and lots of volunteering experience”, she said.

She told the BBC her morale can get low sometimes, and that she occasionally struggles emotionally, especially as “applying for loads of jobs is draining”.

Young people who refuse to work will face having their benefits cut, the work and pensions secretary has said.

If her benefits were taken away, Amy says she’d be left “in a tight spot”, although she would be “open to any experiences really because it will all help”.

“I really want to work, but it’s finding the work that’s hard. There isn’t enough support in helping people find further support, and work.”