Finding a job can sometimes feel like banging your head against a brick wall. Application after application comes to nothing and people can be left wondering if they are employable at all.

But one organisation aims to help those who feel they are doing all they can, but just need a push in the right direction to get them on their way.

Work clubs, facilitated by Colchester Council, run every day of the week in Colchester and are there to guide people through the process of writing CVs, how to answer application questions and how to tackle interviews.

Sandra Culham, community initiatives officer for the communities department at the council, says: “Looking for work can become soul destroying if you keep getting rejected and don’t know why.

“For some people, particularly those who have been in the same job for ten, 15 years or more, will find they don’t know how to fill out an application form any more. It can be hard to know how to express yourself, particularly these days when forms are all scanned and companies search for key words, rather than reading the full form.

“I suggest people target their job search to things they would actually like to do. In my research I found employers want people who actually want to do that specific job, not someone who just wants anything.”

People who visit work clubs learn in groups, rather than having one to one sessions. They are attended by people of all ages from various backgrounds, including mums who are returning to work after having children, those made redundant and people looking for a career change.

Sandra says: “People who have been for interviews tell me some of the questions they have been asked and you can’t believe it. People are being asked what animal they would be, even if the job has nothing to do with animals.

“You wonder what companies are looking for and if you are not in any way an extrovert, being faced with questions like these can be worrying.

But Sandra, a former HR manager, explains that by getting together as a group people can help each other, and even point others to a job that they didn’t get, but may be suitable for someone else.

In the past six months, the work clubs know of 18 people who have found jobs after using their services.

Anyone can visit a work club, though some people are referred by Job Centre Plus, run by volunteers.

There is a club in a different part of Colchester each day of the working week.

For those interesting in attending, call Sandra on 01206 282966.