Returning to work after eighteen years – Sharon’s story

Following a long gap in her career, Sharon joined the Restart Scheme with the ambition of getting back into work. Sharon had taken eighteen years out to raise her family, to which her career was put aside, and she felt she had lost confidence with job searching and her employability skills since.

Sharon told us:

“After 18 years of being a stay at home mother, returning to work was scary. Luckily for me, I was introduced to Lucy at Reed in Partnership, and she really made me feel comfortable and at ease, as I was so nervous.”

Sharon was then also introduced to Employment Adviser, Jamie, who took time in getting to know her and the skills she possessed and how they could transition these into a job role, to give Sharon an idea of potential career paths and job opportunities. Jamie enrolled Sharon onto several of our in-house courses to focus on self-confidence, interview techniques and transferrable skills, to prepare and gather employability knowledge in the current job market.

Sharon shared with us:

“We worked together to update my CV to a high standard, Jamie and I explored different job opportunities and he knew the types of job roles that were suited to me. I was so happy when we found the job role at Greggs, better still, Jamie took the time out of his day to help me complete the application form. Within two days I had an interview, I was so pleased! Without Jamie’s support, I would have struggled to even access their website.

“Jamie was so supportive throughout my journey, as I was very anxious on how I would afford to get to and from work, however, my travel expenses for the first month at my job were covered by the Restart Scheme. If it wasn’t for Jamie and the Restart Scheme, I think I would still be unemployed. I’d just like to say a big thank you to Jamie for supporting me with the preparation and job application and getting me back into the world of work, It’s been a very scary journey, but the Restart Scheme gave me the confidence and helped me so much.

“I realised that I had really missed working with the public, as this was something I had done many years ago. I now start my new job this Monday with Greggs, and I am so excited and can’t wait to start. The next time I see you all, the cakes will be on me.”

Sharon has now started her job at Greggs and has since shared with us how she is enjoying the independence of earning her own money, socialising at work, and enjoying her now job role with hours to suit her.