Flair | UK

Education to employment misfire

Flair graduated with a two-year degree in business administration. She hoped that her practical choice of majors would yield interesting work in the private sector, perhaps in finance. But instead she got caught in a loop of uninspiring temp work, filling in as office manager or answering phones at one company after another. “I quickly realized just how disposable I was.”

She wanted to make an impact of some kind, and to feel her talent was being leveraged, but the drudgery of the day-to-day got to her. She also needed a substantial increase in income.

“I was living on minimum wage. I couldn’t save money. I was living with my family, but I couldn’t contribute to the bills or anything. That was very frustrating.”

Two years after graduating, Flair still hadn’t progressed.

Trying something new

That was when her interest was piqued by stories from friends who worked in tech. The opportunity in the sector seemed expansive. “Why not give that a try?,” she thought.

“I remember going to Generation on the first day of my interview stage and speaking to one of the staff, who was saying, ‘Oh, there’s so many things you can do. You can go into fintech, you could go into front-end development, you can get back-end currency, fullstack’. And it just opened up a world of possibilities for me that I didn’t really know were possible,” she told us.

The course was rigorous and challenging, but with the help of supportive mentors, instructors, classmates, and a growth mindset (one of Generation’s core mindset and behavioral skills) to anchor her, Flair persevered.

“It’s really like learning a different language,” she shared, “Then I got my first role and everything just started making sense, just started falling into place. And I’m using everything and all the skills that I’ve learned.”

A new life

She graduated just before COVID began in March of 2020, and with Generation’s help got her first job in tech at PA Consulting.

We spoke with Flair just as she returned from her honeymoon. Happily married and in a new career, she’s come a long way.

“I’m on a good path. There’s a lot of room for progression. I work with fascinating people. And I actually have enough money to save and invest. God willing, within the next two years, myself and my husband are looking to buy a house.”