I was made redundant by my previous employer. I worked there for 2.5 years and in September 2020, I applied for UC. My work coach made me aware of the courses available at Strive Training which I could complete to help prepare me for my future job applications.

I was wary of being made redundant yet was keen to find employment in a difficult time for job prospects due to Covid 19.

I have a background in the IT field, so I was trying to  look for a job in that sector and actively applying for roles. It was important to me to stay as positive as possible.

I completed the Civil Service Level 1 employability course, which was brought to my attention by my Work Coach who thought by looking at my experience that I would be good at interacting with people.

This was something different to what I had previously done, however I was out of work so we thought this would be good idea. I wasn’t concerned about learning remotely it seemed great and was really easy to navigate and I really enjoyed connecting over Zoom with my Tutor, Trina and peers during the course. Learning remotely was great as it was flexible and I was able to balance it with my everyday life and other priorities. The course was also really organised and professional.

In addition, Strive provide fully accredited and fully funded courses which is a big plus as you are learning all this information for free as well as getting resources. Trina was also willing to do a 1 to 1 session during the course as well as after the course.

The content was good especially for the work coach role which I thoroughly enjoyed. It also helped me to improve my cover letter which I found fantastic, and I also learnt how to use the STAR method to answer competency-based questions in interviews with lots of practise which improved my confidence – which I eventually utilised when interviewing for the job I am in now!

I would recommend Strive training to other people and I would really encourage people to join Strive courses to help polish their cover letters, CV and interview guidance.

Strive helped improve my professional profile online as a recruiter from LinkedIn contacted me about the role.

I am so happy I completed the course with Strive!