…in previous years I would have been very hesitant to believe someone’s testimony towards a free course… the return however is more than I could have imagined. I am living the life I always dreamt of.
Click Start 2024 Alumna*
I am 34 and for all my working life, I have bounced around low-paid entry-level jobs, always at risk of redundancy or being let go due to company cost cutting etc. In late 2023, I was simultaneously made redundant and had my rent tripled before the landlord decided on a no-fault eviction. Having been homeless previously it felt like my worst nightmare coming true again. The low pay meant I was barely making it through each month without debt racking up and just a consistent struggle.
I was fortunate and managed to find a flat and a job, but my new job had a bully of a manager who clearly didn’t like me and it resulted in me crying in the toilets or even at my desk. I had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and throughout the 6 months at this job my health took a steep decline.
I dreaded going to work every day and frequently took sick days and frankly fell into a dark hole of which I saw no way out. I truly thought I would be stuck in that job forever after decline after decline of job applications.
A new beginning
Luckily, I am a part of a fantastic group chat with friends, all of whom work in tech and shared a link to the Click Start TechUP course, it came with the personal recommendation from a good friend who was in a previous cohort and who I was lucky enough to see speak as part of the programme.
Safe to say with no exaggeration this is where my life changed. I joined the cohort of fantastic people and met a wonderful and neurodiverse support group too! My confidence started to grow and whilst the future felt unstable and scary, I knew the foundations were being laid for a much better life.
Whilst I was on the course, in one month I was fired, my grandmother passed away, and my pet cat (and best friend) died very suddenly. I personally think had I not been part of the cohort I would have had a much more difficult time and definitely not be where I am now. With the help of Sharon, Uffa, my cohort, the neurodiverse group and frankly just everyone around me, my life is a complete 180° from where it was.
Midway through the course I received an interview and accepted a job at a fantastic company, while I am not specifically in a tech role, I regularly use spreadsheet formulas, create online forms, and use tech, to make my teams’ lives easier and workflow smoother.
Looking Ahead
I was fortunate to find a company where I have a fantastic future ahead, they encourage not just me to be healthy but it is an enormous part of their business model, and they even include free breakfast and lunch when we work from the office (yum!) my blood sugars have dropped and my energy levels and mental health have significantly improved. I have also since passed the probation on my flat and have an assured tenancy which is only achievable through consistent rent payments, had I not had my job I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
I finally have the stability I craved and this I credit to taking part in the Click Start TechUPWomen course, my confidence improved, my interviewers saw I was working on self-improvement on my own time and took the belief I was building in myself as a sign they could believe in me too.
It was hard and I had a lot of late nights trying to work at a new job and learn as I went but I reached out to people and found all the support I needed and more and completed the course. I cannot state enough how much this course has changed the trajectory of my life and I am so proud of myself for taking that terrifying plunge into the unknown.
Oh, and I am now also debt free and even have begun saving!
I think in previous years I would have been very hesitant to believe someone’s testimony towards a free course, but in many ways it isn’t free, you have to invest your time and energy into it, the return however is more than I could have imagined. I am living the life I always dreamt of.
* The author has chosen to remain anonymous to protect their privacy due to the nature of their work and the personal details shared.
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