Unexperienced to fully employed; what the kickstart scheme has done for me

As my 6 months on the kickstart scheme draws to a close, I’ve reflected on the time I’ve spent with 2buy2; how much I have learnt and how supportive my colleagues and my kickstart mentor have been.

During the past 6 months, I have been welcomed by the company. I started off with general tasks to get to know the software I’m using, to gradually being given more responsibility as time went on. The past 6 months have been quite exciting, for me and for 2buy2, with new projects being pushed out, which I have had the privilege to work on, including the new podcast series ‘Fun with Procurement’. I was also given the opportunity to spearhead a “back-to-school” campaign, where we sent packs of back-to-school essentials to our customers.

Over the last 6 months, I have learnt to use various marketing tools, such as google ad words, sendible, mailchimp and more. Not only does the use of these tools help my everyday work at 2buy2, but they are great to add to my CV as skills.

Help from the Kickstart Scheme

Of course, none of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the kickstart scheme. It helped me get my feet off the ground after being stuck in an endless cycle of looking for work following my graduation.

During the 6 months under the kickstart scheme, I had fortnightly meetings with my mentor where we would go through everything that had happened in the previous two weeks, if there was anything I needed help with or just to catch up on everything I had learnt.

In addition to the fortnightly meetings, there were workshops available to help in any areas I might be lacking. The workshops ranged from time management, to photoshop and anything else I may have needed extra guidance on. Having these fortnightly meetings and workshops showed the support I had from the kickstart scheme, and how they were championing me to succeed.

What’s next?

My last couple of weeks at 2buy2 were spent reflecting on what I had learnt and what the future may look like after the scheme ended. I was hopeful that finding another job would be easier now that I had more experience behind me, but quite saddened by the fact I would be leaving such a great company.

My very last week at 2buy2 arrived and I had a teams call from my manager. It was good news, he offered me a permanent position at 2buy2! I was over-the-moon and keen to carry on learning and developing my skills. Now I have been entrusted with handling the majority of the social media, creating blog posts and promoting the podcasts alongside a colleague that also started off at 2buy2 under the kickstart scheme.

I’m grateful for my mentor, for working with me every fortnight and providing me with friendly chats, advice and support. I’m grateful for 2buy2, for taking a chance on me 6 months ago, but most of all, I am grateful for the kickstart scheme for enabling young people like me to get their feet off the ground; because of the scheme, I am now employed in the career path I studied in university, with a bright future ahead of me.

"As a company we have found great value in the Kickstart scheme. We are really pleased with the calibre of individuals that have joined 2buy2 and that we have been able to provide them with opportunity to pursue their chosen career path. Jess has been a great asset to the marketing team; from the beginning she has been a great fit for our organisation and has been very influential in raising 2buy2’s online profile, we are really pleased to have been able to retain Jess following her Kickstart placement."
- Russell Stables, Director of Operations, 2buy2