The Story
Name: Shahed
Age: 20 years old
Country of Birth: Damascus, Syria
Ethnicity: Syrian
Family life: Mother with health problems that prevents her from working, and a younger brother at school.
Borough of residence: Ealing
Status of employment: Student.
“My name is Shahed. I arrived in the UK in 2016 as a refugee, hoping to build a better life for myself and to be able to support my family. I’m currently studying Functional Skills English and Math level 2 at College and I enjoy it very much. I feel that through excellent education comes performance, and I want to be very well prepared in everything I will do in the future. I want to work in International Business Management and travel the world. My hobbies and interests are sports such as swimming and tennis, reading, writing, and dancing. I am passionate about social causes and I want to help people in need, that is why I have an interest in community and volunteer work.
AWL helped me so much in the past months. The Starbucks course helped me improve my English language skills, and Ana has helped me compose my CV and refer me to various training opportunities. To AWL, I want to say a big thank you!”
A quote from an AWL staff member:
“I have a very personal connection to Shahed, as she is very smart and hard-working. She wanted to develop her skills and has since become an experienced and knowledgeable worker. Her drive to study and learn stems from wanting to continually support her family. Her life has been difficult, firstly having to flee Syria and then move to the UK. She has learnt how competitive London is and how difficult it is to achieve great things in a short time. That is why AWL supports her and inspires her to be independent, confident and use her skills to make a difference.”
Initial introduction
- Referred to by Acton Job Centre whilst she was still studying at College.
- She wanted more information regarding job preparation, the benefits system and housing.
COVID-19 implications:
- Local coffee shops shut, so she was not able to start work…
- AWL didn’t leave her in the lurch, and throughout lockdown invited her to online surgeries, aided her with online job searches, interview prep with companies big and small, including PwC. This exposed her to the ins and outs of the UK job market, as well as expectations associated with it.
- AWL utilised many digital platforms, such as WhatsApp to provide consistent collaborative support.
Pathway with AWL
- We helped her with her CV, to make it more relevant to customer facing jobs such as retail or coffee shop assistants.
- We worked in partnership with the Refugee Council, who train refugees who want to find work opportunities in the UK. She completed their Starbucks barista training and was successfully offered a job in a local Starbucks coffee shop.
What is Shahed doing now?
- The online job surgeries put on by AWL in lockdown has enabled her to figure out her own pathway, with the help of Ismail, a senior employment advisor, and The Working West London Project Through interview and employability skills preparation Ismail held a brokerage position enabling her acceptance onto the Business Administration course
- She is currently undertaking a BTEC level 2 traineeship in Business Administration course, as well studying for her get her Maths and English GCSE.
- She hopes to continue the course and progress to BTEC level 3 and 4.
- She also referred her Mum to AWL, who is currently doing the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).
