Naji is a 24 year old Somalian from a large family. He has never worked and was lacking in confidence. He had received knock-backs due to lack of experience and confidence. He had no firm direction or idea of what he wanted to do.

He was caseloaded by Shakila,  a progression coach who talked to him about his interests and aspirations. She helped him apply for an apprenticeship at Jaguar Landrover and referred him to a Sector-based Work Academy (SBWA) with Monarch Education. However there were very few jobs immediately available as it was near the end of the school year when he completed the SBWA.

Naji was referred to BT Work Ready to boost his confidence and give him some experience in a working environment. A month later, at the BT Celebration event, Naji’s progress was clear; his confidence had increased, and he spoke to visitors about the project he had been working on and his future hopes. He was happy and smiling and was an obvious leader in his group.

As Shakila does not work in the Summer holidays, Corinne worked with him to explore further vacancies and ensure he was still receiving support from a BT adviser who would keep in touch about once a month. He said he would like to try working in retail. Prince’s Trust were doing a Get into Retail course so he went to their taster day.

He enrolled on the Prince’s Trust course which consisted mainly of a work placement with Marks and Spencer. During the placement he moved house and changed jobcentre to Birmingham Central. Shakila kept in touch with him during the placement.

At the end of the placement he had a job interview with Marks and Spencer and successfully started work. Naji’s experience at BT boosted his confidence to help him excel at Marks and Spencer/Prince’s Trust.