The Kickstart Scheme so far

 

In September 2020 I lost my job due to cutbacks resulting from Covid 19, in the following months I applied for various jobs with no success. This led me to apply for Universal Credit so that I would get some sort of an income. I knew that because of the virus situation lots of people my age (19) would be in the same boat as me. It’s not really where I wanted to be at this age, and it made what was already a pretty rubbish year even worse.

Being on Universal Credit lowered my self-esteem as I wanted a job to gain more experience and confidence but there was no jobs available. After a while of being on Universal Credit I was placed on a scheme called Kickstart, this provided job opportunities that I could apply for.

When I first went on Kickstart, I didn’t really know much about it, but I was fed up with having no success in getting a job, and tired of being on Universal Credit. I have an interest in both history and digital/social media, so after seeing the job and getting a job description I started to apply. Growing up surrounded by history and archaeology and studying media and broadcasting at school motivated me to apply for the job.

I was then offered an interview and started to prepare by putting together a digital presentation about museums and their use of social media. The interview didn’t go as I hoped as the laptop camera didn’t work well and I’d had a bad/stressful week. When I got the phone call to say that I have been offered the job I was speechless, It was one of the first positive things that had happened for a long time. I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t get the job but hoped they could see my passion and knowledge for social media, photography and history. I am incredibly thankful for the job offer but nervous to start the job as it is so different to jobs I have had in the past.

 My role started with a 2-week induction, which allowed me to get more comfortable with the job role and the new surroundings. This helped me get to know my colleagues better and feel more comfortable there. After meeting everyone I started to feel more comfortable. My job is focused around maintain and updating the museum’s social media, but I also photograph exhibits and carry out research. 

I’m really enjoying this job and am starting to feel more confident. I am enjoying working in a museum setting and am now considering looking for jobs in other museums/social media when this role ends.

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