Success Stories: Robert Figueria

Robert has been unemployed for over five years and had been placed on various back-to-work schemes, none of which were focused on the skills he felt he needed to get back into work.

He’d heard of learndirect as a potential resource to improve his IT skills and mentioned it to his advisor at his jobcentre. An appointment was made at Hounslow learndirect centre where Robert agreed to do an IT course, as his main expectation was to get an IT qualification to enable him to secure a job in the administrative sector.

Robert’s original plan had been to just complete IT Level 2, after completing his IT assessment and diagnostic, he was advised to start at Level 1 and work his way up. This has enabled him to better understand what he already knew, whilst expanding his knowledge, thus giving him a solid foundation in IT. It has also given him a significant confidence boost, as before he started he had doubts about his skill levels.

Robert has also completed a customer service course, which has helped him understand consumer interactions and how he can

Robert feels the courses have improved his life by giving him more confidence and a positive outlook, going to the courses has given him more purpose and structure. Moreover, he feels that learndirect has made him more employable. Robert would recommend learndirect to others and has already discussed learndirect programmes as an option to a friend.