Case Studies
Career LEAP is a turning point for participants:
Five years later … where are they now?
Five years on...
Five years on, Carlos is working in Facilities with JLL in LinkedIn, having joined the company in May 2019.
- Before I did Career LEAP I was in a bad routine, I had no confidence. Sure I had no career plan worked out and nowhere to go. Career LEAP was great, meeting all them business people, it opened up opportunities for me. Like I learned how to reach out to employers for jobs and fix my CV. Work experience in Bank of Ireland was great and then I got the job in EIR. I have done well from it. Met really great people. I like meeting people and they helped me along the way. Loads of people around the area now have got good jobs from it, it’s great. It’s great it is still happening and I hope it keeps going.
Carlos Donovan
Carlos Donovan was 23 years old when he joined Career LEAP. Having previously worked in retail for a brief period he had been long term unemployed prior to starting Career LEAP. Carlos successfully completed the training programme, during which time he developed an understanding around the importance of networking skills. He decided to use these skills to contact a recruiter about potential job opportunities. This led to him getting an interview and successfully securing a job as a customer service agent with EIR, and he was subsequently promoted to team leader.
I lack confidence a lot. I’m usually a shy person. This programme just sparked me out. It made me more confident to speak to the interviewers, to meet managers. I met some of the most important people around. People in HR, including the Minister of Housing, that’s big. It was deadly to hear from some of the business people, especially to hear where they started from, most of them started out and left school at a young age with no qualifications either.
Carlos, 2016
Five years on...
Five years later, Bibi is still with Bank of Ireland and currently working in the Tallaght branch. She has a little girl and continues to work full time.
- I am still working in Bank of Ireland. The job was offered through Career LEAP Programme and I am delighted and honoured I was part of this programme. It completely changed my life and the people that I have met during the course who were working in the bank in big posts, that helped me so much and everyone was so kind and helpful. I would love if they have the same programme for any age group so even my husband can participate in it. Thanks to everyone in Career LEAP, their hard work paid off.
Bibi Rahima
Bibi Rahima was 24 years old when she joined Career LEAP. Bibi originally from Afghanistan arrived in Ireland in 2008, and successfully completed her Leaving Certificate and went on to DIT to study engineering. However, she deferred her studies after two years due to personal circumstances. Bibi had never worked in Ireland outside of some voluntary roles with local non-profit organisations. Prior to Career LEAP she had been applying to countless job opportunities and never made it to interview stage.
