Jake's Story

Jake recently lost his job and is looking for a new opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge to open up a new career path. Jake started in the world of work at a very young age. This has made his recent unemployment even harder for him. Jake is comfortable with being busy and feeling purposeful. Coming on this course has given Jake normality, he said. "I am just happy to be back busy and being hands-one because that's what I enjoy the most".

After Jake lost his job it left him feeling down, he was unsure what to do next and felt lost with no direction. He then found out about the Introduction to Bricklaying Multiply course through the job centre. After speaking to his job coach and the staff at STL, Jake knew that it was what he wanted to do. The course was able to offer Jake a new purpose. It could offer him the new skills and knowledge that he was looking for, including a Health and Safety Awareness Qualification and a CSCS Card to explore a career in Construction and have a license to access any construction site within the UK.

Jake explained that he struggles with learning in traditional settings and needs extra support to overcome his barriers to learning. Jake has had to over come his challenges all his life and it has affected him since school. Sometimes Jake can get frustrated with himself. But he found his tutor (Tony) had an amazing approach to his needs. Jake stated "Tony's teaching methods helped me massively. I learnt so many skills on my course that I can take into the work".

Jake is planning to start a new career in the construction industry right away. Jake said "By completing this course it has given me a chance to achieve my ambitions and prepare for the world of work." Jake is hoping to pass his CSCS test, collect his card and his Health and Safety certificate in November, enabling him to get back into work after this. Jake stated "I love to work as I believe it gives me a sense of purpose".

Jake's most notable achievement since completing his course has been how many new skills he has picked up. Jake didn't let his learning difficulties slow him down. With Tony's help, Jake was able to absorb new skills and techniques. Jake said "I am most proud of my new Bricklaying Skills considering I have never held a trowel previously".