Hi, I’m a former Kickstarter at Reward Risk Management, and it’s honestly been an irreplaceable step on the way to my current and future work life, and maybe help convince you why this path might just be for you.

My previous job ended mid-2020 and the timing was far less then fortunate. Worse, during that year I later had both a medical issue (making me almost unable to walk at times) AND contracted covid-19. What that time left me with what felt like a year of my life wasted. But why am I saying all this? Why am I telling yet another story of the mess that was employment within the last few years? Because it ended with kickstart.

It wasn’t my first time contacting the job centre; after leaving school I quickly learned how invaluable work experience was, especially as a new young adult with endless opportunities yet a lack of direction. They helped me get an internship and work experience that certainly helped my CV, but in 2021 they helped give me what I was missing: direction.

It was my third kickstart interview. My third sit down in a spaced-out room, only a thin plastic shield between me and my now-current boss. I’ve had many before. Over the phone, in person, booked days away with little time to research and prepare, and yet, it was the calmest interview I’ve ever had. It wasn’t cold and formal to a fault. It was warm, honest and (if my work coaches’ comments to her was anything to go by) effective.

According to my work coach, it was the most he had ever heard me talk and open-up about myself, especially in an interview (something far harder than many companies may admit).

We talked, obviously, but it wasn’t the usually robotic questions, rather it felt more like a discussion. We talked about relative skills. Talked about the group projects I helped manage in sixth form. Talked about the job and its responsibilities and what I could bring to the role. As someone only used to stoic and one-note interviews, the genuine warmness and personality of the interview was as much a surprise as it was confidence building. I didn’t feel like a robot being tested by an automaton (like many phone interviews or even face to face ones have felt in the past).

My previous Kickstart interviews both went well, and I’m sure that I may have enjoyed those jobs too. So why did I choose this one? Afterall, I hadn’t considered HR before. Its one of the subtler industries, yet vital for any company to thrive, especially given these chaotic last few years. For me leaving school, I ultimately felt left adrift to navigate the modern job hiring process. But, with kickstart, I wasn’t expected to know everything before I put my foot in the door or have years of relevant experience.

My interviewer saw my skills, from excel skills gained during IT and refined through a relatively short amount of training, to formal research learned through sourcing papers and information in biology, I already had many of the skills (from seemingly unrelated places) that aligned perfectly for the job.

And for RRM? Practical, real experience managing new hires and my generations expectations and approach to the workplace, in a near risk-free and productive way. Sure, from my understanding several of the prior interviews seemed wasted as the work coaches often encouraged shotgunning us into seemingly any interview we were able-bodied to do, but the knowledge and experience of employing and training someone new to the industry are especially useful for a HR business (which specialises in advising other companies on staff decisions and reward schemes).

Over the last 6 (now approaching 7) months I’ve learned so much about a whole industry I’d never really considered, gained an easily liveable wage, experience, a routine and discovered skills I didn’t even know that I had, such as self-motivation and self-discipline (which I likely wouldn’t have discovered if I wasn’t spending most of my time working from home, which has been amazing for me personally).

This has also hopefully been the start of a brand-new career for me. I’ve already gone from researcher to job analyst and am happily paid a decent wage at a permanent position that is largely working from home, a far cry from my previous odd-hours temp, minimum wage jobs, and I cant wait to see where I go from here.

Brandon.