Finding my next steps – Dylan’s story

When Dylan joined the Restart Scheme, he had previous work experience, but since being out of work for a while he had become unsure about what he wanted to do or what steps to take next.

“When I joined the Restart Scheme,” said Dylan, “I found it hard to discuss my feeling around going back to work and was unsure on what I wanted for my future.”

Everybody who joins the Restart Scheme is appointed a personal Employment Adviser, who will work with them during one-to-one appointments to understand their personal situation and reasons for being out of work.

Dylan met his Employment Adviser, Gemma, who gradually helped him to increase his confidence and get the most out of their sessions. Dylan shared:

“At the start, I was hesitant to attend my appointments with Gemma, but after she reached out to support me, we built a great working relationship, which really helped me to take the next steps to find employment.”

The Restart Scheme offers a range of specialist courses to help jobseekers increase their employability skills and understand which roles could be right for them. Our Transferable Skills course, for example, helps participants to identify their existing skills and how they can be applied to current labour market opportunities.

Gemma was on hand to give guidance on which in-house courses would be most beneficial to Dylan, and he was able to complete sessions focusing on transferrable skills, interview preparation and self-confidence. Gemma told us of the noticeable changes in Dylan’s confidence and approach to finding work after completing these sessions.

Dylan told us: “Gemma has worked really hard with me and has recently supported me in securing a job at a large warehouse local to me. Without Gemma’s support I may not have found work!

“I am very thankful for Gemma helping me with my travel costs to get to and from work, until I receive my first wage. During my time on the Restart Scheme, I was shown how much better off I would be back in work, and now I’m very happy to be moving into employment and to not be on Universal Credit anymore.”