They helped me build a good CV, gave me interview and research skills and rebuilt my self-esteem and confidence.” “They understood what I wanted to achieve and how I needed to get there. “From the moment I joined City Gateway, I felt I was in the right place,” he said. He opened up to a friend who told him about a “great” local charity in Tower Hamlets called City Gateway where he had done a training course that helped him find an apprenticeship.
I watched my peers progress while I fell further and further behind.
I started applying for courses in marketing and engineering, but I had been average at school and didn’t have the grades to get in. After a while you feel hopeless and rejected. He reassured them he would soon find a placement, but Covid made it difficult and a year later he was still searching.Īmin, who grew up in Tower Hamlets, the son of Bangladeshi parents, said: “I made loads of job applications but got no interviews and no feedback. When Amin dropped out of his business management degree at Queen Mary University to seek an apprenticeship where he could “earn and learn” at the same time, his parents were not happy. She has proved an excellent hire and I predict great things.” In five years, she could be a manager earning £40,000 to £60,000. She is eager to learn, has a natural affinity for real estate and has fitted easily into the team. She started a month ago on a two-year apprenticeship and has been a joy to work with. We felt she had the values we look for – somebody who will work well in a team and go above and beyond for a customer.
She came across as eloquent and professional and followed up to thank us for our time - a nice touch. “I interviewed three candidates for a position in our customer success team and despite being younger than people we typically hire, Christabel sailed through with flying colours. Rianna Ralphs, 30, head of customer success at EG, part of LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group and a provider of data, news and analytics for the commercial real estate market, said: “Normally we employ university graduates, but this is a new initiative to be more inclusive by offering a leg up to young people with no degree. My CV was sorted, I had researched the company and the commercial property sector and I felt motivated. By the time they put me forward to apply for the job at EG, part of the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group, I was ready. The 2020 Change course showed me my potential, but it also gave practical steps to success.
It was emotional because I had just turned 23 and I realised I had no plans or expectations and It made me see how negative my thoughts had become. “I applied last year, got in and on the course they asked us to do a video projecting ourselves five years into the future to visualise the life we wanted. It was an Instagram post from 2020 Change, a training provider supported by our Skill Up Step Up campaign, offering places on their 10-week “I am Change” programme that proved the catalyst to change. I was applying for jobs but felt at a dead end because I was just getting rejected and didn’t know what to do.” “My mum became terribly worried, hugging me and crying and pleading with me not to give in to negative thoughts. “At one point I got so low, I couldn’t leave my bed,” she said.