Boosting my confidence - Joanie’s story
When Joanie joined our Restart Scheme she had been unemployed for a few years, caring for her parents and dealing with anxiety and depression.
Joanie was appointed her own Employment Adviser, Chloe, and since then they have both worked together to boost Joanie’s confidence and create a plan of action to get her ‘job-ready’. This has included CV writing, interview preparation and mental health support.
During her time using the Restart Scheme, Joanie has built a great relationship with the team at our Harlow office.
Joanie told us:
“All the staff were kind, helpful and gave me the biggest confidence boost I have ever had. Before joining the Restart Scheme, I was depressed and anxious and Chloe has now changed my mindset and how I feel. I have a more positive outlook to life in general.”
Joanie’s Employment Adviser, Chloe explained:
“For the first few months, Joanie wasn’t feeling ready to return to work due to her anxiety and depression, but around month five Joanie’s confidence really started to improve and we started actively applying for jobs.”
Once Joanie was prepared and ready she attended a couple of job interviews. While these were not successful it provided good practice and helped build her confidence enough for her to keep applying for other roles.
After some words of reassurance from Chloe, Joanie showed great resilience to not let this bring her down and managed to remain proactive. Eventually she was successful.
Joanie told us:
“Thanks to Chloe’s help for finding me a job, I have never been happier. I feel so much more confident and motivated and feel I am on cloud nine right now. I haven’t been this happy in such a long time and it’s all thanks to Chloe and her hard work.
“Although I have just started this job, I want to progress with this company and work my way up the ladder to hopefully one day becoming a manager. Chloe has given me the confidence I need to believe in myself, and my anxiety levels have dropped so much because of her reassurance and support.”