Case Study: Idil Abdel Kadi

Traineeship Case Study:  Idil Abdel Kadi

When Idil Abdel Kadir first came to CMS Vocational Training, she was lacking in confidence and unsure what her next step in life should be, despite her obvious academic abilities. Following her Traineeship and work placement, she has transformed her life and is looking at progressing to a place at university.

The benefits of undertaking a Traineeship: The Traineeship programme is a new government initiative to help students find their way in life when they leave school. It’s about helping learners to progress into further education, employment or an apprenticeship.

For Idil, it allowed her to focus on where she wanted to go next, while gaining useful skills, which left her feeling more confident and a lot happier.

Background: On her first meeting with Sarah Hussain, Traineeship Co-ordinator at CMS Vocational Training, Idil Abdel Kadir was very uncertain about her future. Although academic, she was being held back by her lack of self confidence and confusion about what she should do with her life.

Having left school and abandoned her studies after choosing the wrong sixth form courses, she was upset and unsure what to do. After visiting Connexions in Dewsbury Library, she decided a Traineeship would give her the experience she needed and was put in contact with CMS in January 2015.

Idil said: “In my interview with my tutor Sarah, she asked what I wanted to do and where I saw myself going. I wasn’t sure, but she helped me decide by asking me what I was interested in and we worked from there.”

Work placement: In order to help her decide on her next step, Idil underwent Employability Training and Career Planning. Having GCSE maths at level 2 and with strong numeracy skills, she decided she was interested in accountancy, and Sarah was able to find her a work placement with a well-established accountancy firm in Huddersfield.

At the same time she was building her self confidence by learning additional skills such as teamwork and writing job applications. Even though she had passed GCSEs in English and maths, Idil also learned to become more proficient at tasks such as writing letters and emails.

On completing her work placement, Idil received fantastic feedback from her employer, who said that there would be a job there waiting for her if she wanted it, once she had finished her studies.

Idil said: At first I found it difficult because I’d never been in a working environment before, but as time went on, I really enjoyed it and my work colleagues were very nice. I progressed a lot and became more confident as a person.”

Next step: By this stage Idil had decided to take her A-levels at college and put forward her application while still at the accountancy firm.

She was successful at her interview and was awarded a place at Wakefield College to study three A-levels: law, business studies and sociology.

Idil said: “Half way through my placement at the accountants, they asked what I would like to do later and I said that I wanted to go to university. My CMS tutor Sarah gave me a list of options and I decided I would like to do A-levels. She helped me choose which ones to take, got the application forms and showed me when I needed to apply.

“I didn’t think I would get in as it was a bit late in the year to apply, but I had my interview, it went well and I got a place. Normally I’m not confident as a person, but because we worked on things like team skills, building self confidence and knowing our qualities, that helped me.

“I started college in September – I really like the course and I’m doing well. It’s an adult environment compared with a high school sixth form – there are mature students there as well – so it’s more independent and a good place to be if you want to get on with your work. I am really motivated because I don’t want to repeat any years and I want to go on to study at university.”

Looking ahead: Now armed with a Traineeship and a better CV, Idil is continuing her A-level studies and hoping to progress to take Level 2 Employability Skills to increase her chances of future success.

Moving forward, Idil is planning to apply to Huddersfield University and is considering becoming a primary school teacher. “We had people from the university who came in to talk to us and they have the best reputation for teaching, plus their graduate employment levels are really high.”

And the benefits of undertaking a Traineeship with the support of CMS Vocational Training?:“Because Sarah was confident and had faith in me, that really motivated me to do well. I felt a lot happier and didn’t feel so lost.”