Wendley de la Paz

Wendley de la Paz (41) has been working as Work & Participation Consultant at Werkse! since 2022. Before that, he had a commercial career in marketing, but it did not give him the satisfaction he was looking for. A vacancy from Werkse! for a consultant brought relief: ‘With the life experience I had gained, I saw that in this job I could really mean something to people.’

‘The vacancy really appealed to me. I saw the profile and knew immediately that this was what I wanted: as a “people person” this suited me very well. I have had setbacks myself, similar to the headwinds my candidates face. I worked myself through that setback under my own steam, but know how difficult it can be. From that life experience, I expected to make a difference for these people. By showing them that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, even if you can no longer see it yourself. Sometimes you need someone to help you see that. I wanted to be that person.

‘De vacature vroeg niet naar een specifieke opleiding. Het ging voornamelijk om persoonlijkheid, betrokkenheid en gemotiveerdheid. Het was wel een pittige procedure: ik moest pitchen en voerde vier sollicitatiegesprekken. Maar ik heb het gered! Meteen na mijn aanstelling ben ik met de vakopleiding begonnen, aangevuld met tal van in- en externe trainingen. Daar is Werkse! heel proactief in – ze zetten je echt in je kracht. Ook als je zelf met een opleidingsbehoefte komt, kan dat. Zo start ik binnenkort met een cursus Creatief Coachen. Maar ik kom mezelf ook tegen in dit werk. Ik leer mijn eigen grenzen te trekken en me te realiseren dat niet iedereen geholpen kan worden zoals ik dat het liefst zou zien.’

‘What I like best about this work is that I can help people get out of the doldrums and into their strength. I do that within a neighbourhood-oriented team, which guides a group of about 600 candidates in the Buitenhof district towards work or participation in some form or other. Werkse! is a company that is really committed to the target group. Not by pushing people, but by responding to what they need to be part of this society in a pleasant way. I fully support that.”An example is the case with a candidate who wanted to start working as a self-employed taxi driver from his benefit. I soon saw that that was not a viable option, but didn’t want to discourage him. I wanted him to discover for himself that it wasn’t going to work – you learn a lot more from that. I asked him to write a business plan for me. Soon after, he announced that he was abandoning the plan to become self-employed and was going for employment. Nice, now he had accepted the challenge himself and was still motivated to go for a permanent job. He is now in the process of getting his taxi pass through TOP Support Netherlands, the club that can help him get a good job after getting his taxi pass. ‘Everyone happy!’

‘I am very happy that Werkse! chose me, despite my non-relevant prior education. Of course I found it scary in the beginning, because now I had to prove myself… From day one, Werkse! reassured me and indicated that I could and could take the time to settle in properly. It took me a while to stick to that – I came from the competitive marketing world, of course – but gradually it worked out. I feel right at home here now. Also, I still have a lot to learn and I am totally committed to that.’