Farah’s Story – how TPO trains jobseekers for new careers through mentoring schemes

Young graduate Farah Sayeed was just finding her feet after university when Covid struck and she was left unable to get a job. Unsure of what career path to follow, Farah’s confidence had dipped, leaving unsure of which way to turn as a woman in her early 20s. Amid her uncertainty, she was offered a training scheme with The People’s Orchestra(TPO) that has turned around her life.

Training, mentoring and later a job with TPO has equipped her with skills to forge ahead with a new career – and she has just beaten off competition from 143 other applicants to land one of two sought-after job at Dudley Council within its Procurement division.

Farah is just one of the many people that TPO helps every year to find work as part of its mission. There’s so much more to TPO than just orchestras and choirs as it’s a charity that is committed to helping the community tackle important issues including loneliness, social isolation, financial hardship and helping the unemployed find work.

TPO’s Back To Work programme including Kickstart links up with Jobcentres. It has already helped more than 1,000 people from all walks of life around Birmingham and the Black Country get back into employment, building up their confidence and abilities.

Finding work after unsure of what to do

Farah, now aged 28 from Tipton in Sandwell, is just one of them. She has spent four years working with TPO, gaining valuable experience that has opened the door to a new career in procurement.

Her new job with Dudley Council is apprenticeship and involves a clear route for Farah to progress and gain a qualification in CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement.

Her positivity and confidence at starting the new job is a world away from how she felt after finishing a degree in Law at University of Birmingham in 2018. She was unsure that the legal profession was the career for her when suddenly the Covid pandemic struck and put her life on hold.

“I was trying to find my footing after university and then Covid happened,” explained Farah. “I thought Law was what I’d go into, but then felt it wasn’t really for me. Then Covid was really difficult. I was in the process of looking for jobs when it happened and there was lockdown. It was a really uncertain time.

“I couldn’t find a job and then the Government’s Kickstart Scheme started, so I thought I’d give it a try.” Farah was placed with TPO in its West Bromwich head office in 2021 through the Jobcentre as part of Kickstart.

“It meant TPO would give me in-house mentoring and training and I’d be going into a traditional office environment,” said Farah. “They are really flexible and have a lot of placement students, who come to work for them. They always have someone to support each person.”

She impressed the TPO team so much that six months into her placement Farah was offered a part-time job as a Business Administrator. She described that moment as giving her “some comfort” after years of feeling unsure of where her career was heading.

Over time, she was mentored in how to do grant funding applications and monthly reports for projects. Those are skills that became a huge benefit on her CV and came to the fore during her interview with Dudley Council.

“I’ve done a range of jobs within the admin team at TPO from working on policy documents to sitting in on strategy meetings,” said Farah. “The team always said that if I had a creative idea, they are more than happy to hear me out.

“Once a week there were team meetings to go to. I got lots of support because I had no experience.

“I also had weekly meetings with a colleague, who’s got 20 years of experience in grant funding and she really helped with my development.

“I had no background in writing grant funding applications, but I was given the chance to do it with plenty of support. Within six months, I’d had my first grant funding success, so I veered towards that side of things.

“I realise now how much it all built up my confidence.”

TPO work scheme helped me find a career

“Getting involved with TPO has had an impact on my life and on me getting the council job,” said Farah. “Given the number of people who applied, I feel really proud of getting the role.

“In the interview, they said I had a lot of transferable skills. They also mentioned how it was interesting to get an insight from the person making an application. They want to get an idea on how people are finding the process of applying and I can give the council my knowledge on that.

“When I got the job offer from Dudley Council, I was over the moon. I sometimes get imposter syndrome and so I’d felt that I didn’t do well enough in the interview. I’ve always had confidence issues but working with TPO, I feel like I’ve been able to overcome that to some degree.

“It’s also helped me decide what I want to do in the long term. I didn’t realise when I started that there was so much opportunity with grant funding. You can go into charities, into development and procurement.

“Since sixth form, I was pushed to go to uni rather than an apprenticeship but this opportunity at TPO gives students and other people the chance to see what they want to do.

“TPO has such a supportive team and the woman I worked with closely became a mentor to me. I know I can keep in touch with her so that if I ever need advice in my new job, I can ask her.

“That stood out to me as I realised that I’m part of TPO family now and always will be.”

The People’s Orchestra offers regular work placements, training and job opportunities. See TPO website here for details on roles available and how to get in touch.