'People might look at my CV and say "Why didn't they renew your contract? Don't you work well?" But it's not that I didn't work well in the school, it's completely dependent on the child. That's the nature of this job.'

I'm a SEN assistant at a school in Redruth - I work with children with behavioural or physical problems. I'm statemented to a particular child, so if that child goes then you go. It's an interesting thing, because you want the child to do well, but then if they do really well - or if they do something against the rules of the school - then they don't need you anymore and you could lose your job.

At the moment I'm working around 25 hours a week. I've been doing this since January. I was volunteering before then - at the nurture groups (with young children), and at a colour group with old ladies, facilitating with art therapy.

Nothing is certain. The school are putting me on courses, which I need for my role - so that I'm safe and the child is safe. But it's completely up in the air. This time next year she will finish school and go onto secondary so my job will finish. It depends if there are other children coming up through the system, and whether they've got grants and can afford it. The school can't pay for it. So I'll just have to wait and see.

My qualification is in Photography. Initially I wanted to set up my own business. I did lots of research into it, but it was a huge jump and I couldn't really see how I was going to make it work. It was pretty daunting. How would I get clients, and convince them that it was a good investment? Since digital, a lot of people think they can do it themselves, so they don't want to spend the money.

I was doing bar work in between, and then decided to change direction completely. I still like to use the art side of it... but I'm now trying to head towards art therapy or counselling - using the art with wellbeing, seeing the different contexts that it can be used in.

I want security, so it's daunting, but it's the way it goes. Having a small wage for the work that you do means that you can't say, "OK well I've got this, so if I can't get another job I can live off that..." You're basically living on the edge - if I don't find another job I'll have to sign on again. Look around and see what's out there.

People might look at my CV and say "Why didn't they renew your contract? Don't you work well?" But it's not that I didn't work well in the school, it's completely dependent on the child. That's the nature of this job.

With my skills, I'd like to start doing a counselling course so I feel more confident that I know what I'm doing. That will also add to my CV for when I'm looking for other work. It would also show that I'm committed to this as a career.

I'd like help with funding to do some courses. The qualifications would be really important for me to move forward - I could then work with adults or children, which would give me more options on the work front. I could use those skills quite broadly in the industry.

I don't know much about the help and advice that's available to me... I did email the British Counselling Organisation. They were good and emailed me a pack that had a list of all the different courses, at all levels, across the country - and funding options/ people you could apply to for grants. That's about the profession in general though - I'm not sure about where to go for advice and support about job opportunities or training opportunities in Cornwall. I'd be really interested in finding out more about what's available locally.

I'd be interested to hear about possible opportunities in the growing sectors in Cornwall. I think the area I want to get into is quite broad - in the health sector, young or old, in school or out of school, people are always going to need help. From mental health to schools, support is always needed.

I'd like to do something a bit like an apprenticeship, so you do feel like you're working and getting a bit of money but receiving guidance and developing your skills too. I think that's a really helpful thing, because I think the education system can be a bit of a bubble. You come out of it but it's still really hard to get a job. I worry that if I go back to college I'm just going to be spat out in a couple of year's time in exactly the same situation - with no real experience.

Opportunities in Cornwall seem very hard to come by. When you're looking for a job in Cornwall, it often seems like the only options are catering and teaching. When you look in the West Briton jobs section, it seems like it's always the same types of jobs - not much variety. It's difficult to get motivated. Even with the school - very few jobs would come up, especially full-time. It was literally like 10 hours a week, 16 hours a week. Sometimes I'd look and there'd be a fair few, but most of the time they seemed pretty hidden.

You just want to be on a decent wage, don't you? Have a decent job that you enjoy and can see where you're going.

Perdita Heasman - 29