Olek, originally from Ukraine, is a motivated career changer with a strong personal passion for IT. Over the years, he built up a wealth of practical experience solving hardware and software, completing a 12-week IT bootcamp, as well as working towards further qualifications.

Olek’s first met his Job Coach, Lucy from Groundwork, in June 2025 and was quickly identified as the perfect participant for Restart Scheme Blue. Restart Scheme Blue offers graduates 12-weeks intensive 1:1 mentor support to help them find suitable employment. Olek was introduced to Anne Whitworth, Professional Mentor at Serco. Their initial session focused on understanding Olek’s goals, reviewing his career-changing journey, and identifying his immediate priorities in the UK job market. Both Olek and Anne agreed that the programme would give him the structure, guidance, and confidence to secure a role in IT support.

Together, Olek and Anne established a clear job focus aligned with IT support and service desk roles. They reviewed and developed his CV, ensuring his technical skills and hands-on achievements were presented in a professional, employer-focused way. Anne also introduced a job tracker to help Olek organise and monitor his applications, an approach that quickly improved the efficiency of his job search.

Alongside continuing meeting with Lucy, in subsequent sessions, Anne and Olek reviewed the job market, discussed suitable employers, and refined a strategy that balanced quality and quantity of applications. They also worked on Olek’s interview skills through practice sessions, focusing on how to confidently communicate his passion for IT alongside his problem-solving and customer support experience. Regular check-ins enabled Olek to adapt his strategy based on feedback from applications, and to build confidence in presenting himself as a strong candidate despite being a career changer.

As interview opportunities arose, Anne helped Olek prepare with tailored mock interviews and feedback. They focused on structuring answers, demonstrating his technical skills through examples of past projects, and showcasing his collaborative working style.

With a stronger CV, clearer job focus, and consistent application strategy, Olek made significant progress in his transition into IT support-based roles and after several recruitment processes was made a couple of job offers. Olek has since accepted a job offer and started in September.

Olek said:

“Finding employment in a specific field especially without any experience locally can take a while. Hence, I thought that getting additional skills will open up a larger segment of the work market. Certifications in general IT are also a proof that I have a good knowledge base for most IT jobs, be it IT support and admin to something more specific like Data Engineering. Joining Restart Scheme Blue, Anne and I adjusted my CV to highlight the relevant experiences and qualifications better.

The job search tracker template Anne provided was a good idea, helped me a lot to organise the whole process and keep track of responses and communication with employers. The mock interview was helpful, took some stress away so I could concentrate on the content of the interview. It also supported building confidence and knowing what to pay attention to and what to prepare for the interview.

It took me a bit of time but in the end it worked out. I passed several interviews, got a couple offers and found the exact job I was looking for during my participation on Restart Scheme Blue.”   

Anne said:

“Olek has all the right ingredients to succeed, technical skill, curiosity, and resilience. It’s been a privilege to support him in shaping his job search, and I’m not surprised he secured the right opportunity to begin his IT career in the UK.

Olek’s journey is a fantastic example of how transferable skills, when combined with clear structure and preparation, can open new career paths. His dedication to self-learning and his ability to adapt under pressure really came through in our practice sessions, and I could see his confidence growing each week.

Olek’s technical knowledge and enthusiasm for IT were obvious from the start. The challenge was to ensure his practical skills and transferable experience were effectively highlighted to recruiters. By implementing a structured approach with a job tracker, we were able to bring real clarity and momentum to his job search.”