Before Making The Leap, I had finished my undergraduate degree and I was planning on taking a year off to learn new skills and maybe change my career path.  I took part in the 3-week ACE workshop back in 2019 after attending The Annual Social Mobility Careers Fair. I met a few Fellows from the recent cohort who all spoke very highly of the workshop, I also met Jamal who is a Recruitment Officer at MTL and was very friendly. He explained to me what MTL does, and I was hooked straight away.

During the ACE workshop I was going through a hard time within my personal life, however, attending the workshop gave me the confidence to leave my house and still think about what I wanted to do in terms of my career. The situation I was in was not going to be long term and I am grateful to the team for their support, and for consistently checking up on me.

I learnt to improve my skills in every aspect of the job application process from improving my CV and Cover Letter to building confidence with public speaking and improving interview technique. Throughout the process, I learnt to identify my strengths and improve my weaknesses.

I am still incredibly appreciative of the support from my cohort and felt great pride in seeing everyone encourage and help each other grow. I got lucky because I was surrounded by a motivated group of young people, that were also striving to have good careers, which made the experience that much more enjoyable.

Florida and her cohort on a Corporate Experience day with Investment Bank, Franklin Templeton.

Even after I had completed the course, I still received regular contact from MTL about masterclasses, job sessions, as well as regular one-to-one phone calls with my Career Champion Jeremy – who was very patient and delightful from the moment we met. Jeremy helped me find the confidence within and encouraged me to apply for jobs I did not think I could get, however, the encouragement paid off because, after a year of ups and downs, I landed a job within the NHS working with young people who have serious mental illnesses.

I would 100% recommend Making The Leap for anyone who is struggling to land the job they want or doesn’t know how to sell themselves in a professional setting. I am thankful to Marlene and Krupa for always checking and being so kind. Also, Jeremy for being a great mentor and a coach when I needed him.

My advice for any young people with the opportunity of joining Making The Leap is to not doubt the process and just give it a go. At first, I was somewhat hesitant as I thought I was already highly educated and trained so there was little extra help they could provide, but there were some areas in which I needed improving and Making The Leap helped guiding me in the right direction.

By Florida.

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