After finishing her Sociology and Criminology degree in May, Amy started her graduate job search in a market badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I had been trying to find a job since graduating in May and was really stuck. I kept getting rejections or not hearing back from applications which is disheartening. It was actually my brother, who is a recruiter in London, who found The Prince’s Trust course and sent me the information. I thought it would be a good way to fill my CV and, though I’d mainly been applying for jobs more related to my degree, I started to consider doing something in the health and social care sector.

Honestly, I had fairly low expectations before the course started at the end of August. I was sceptical about how much could be achieved in a three-day online course. Throughout the three days, we got to know the other people on the programme via Zoom and had talks from someone from The Trust and from an employer. We also had mock interviews before the final day of proper interviews. By day three, it didn’t matter that it was virtual.

“The mock interviews were really useful and helped prepare me for the real thing. Before going on the programme, I would panic in interviews and rush to answer the questions. The course leaders taught me that you can take time to think about what you say and we learned how to answer the questions properly. During the interviews at the end of the programme, I felt myself applying the learning and doing well. It was really empowering.

“Soon after the course finished, I had two more interviews and was offered a job on the spot for one of them and took it! I start work as a Support Worker in a residential home for people with learning disabilities at the end of the month. I’m really looking forward to working – it will be more first full-time ‘proper job’.

“If I hadn’t gone on the Get Started course, I think I’d still be applying for jobs. The course was all so helpful and my confidence has soared. I usually flop in interviews and The Prince’s Trust has made the whole interview process less daunting. I feel like I can apply this confidence to anything.”