Ridha grew up in Hackney. As a child, she experienced the disruption of moving around from refuge
and council housing. Though it was hard for her mother bringing up Ridha and her sisters alone, she
was extremely supportive, and was thoroughly proud when Ridha was the first in her family to attend
university.
After graduating, Ridha believed that she would sail into a job. There were no working professionals
within her family, and women were often expected to focus on their home lives, so Ridha experienced
a lack of guidance when it came to job hunting and practical skills, which sometimes held her back.
After a long string of rejections, she found herself not only demotivated, but also choosing not to apply
for roles because she didn’t believe she’d get them.
An MTL Fellow who was a good friend of Ridha’s recommended she come here, so she began the
workshop to learn the essential soft skills she’d need to succeed. With MTL’s help, she learned not
only how to job seek effectively and present herself in a corporate environment, but also developed
her confidence. She then progressed on to MTL’s Corporate Careers Programme. Ridha put in the hard
work, aware the practice of psychometric tests and weekly presentations would put her in the best
position for applying to top firms. MTL helped Ridha secure a prestigious graduate scheme at a top
ten auditing firm, where she will also be studying for the ACCA – an internationally recognised
accountancy qualification.
‘After incessant job applications, MTL helped me secure an amazing graduate scheme. Throughout the
application process, the MTL team helped me prep for the interviews vigorously and really believed I
could achieve this, even more so than I believed in myself. When I got the call back from the firm
offering me a job, I couldn’t believe it!
The MTL team help bring out the best of young people and show them that they can achieve whatever
they want to. I will be carrying through what MTL taught me, and hope that others are able to benefit
from the services they provide and their amazing team the way that I have been able to. To any young
person considering coming to MTL, I would say go for it!’
