Craig Hinton – Civil Service

After years of holding physical roles, Craig was in need of a non-physical job. Craig knew he needed to look for a different type of position, and after some encouragement from his Work Coach decided to join our Civil Service course. Read his story below!

What were you doing before you started the programme?
Leading up to starting the course, I had been off work, sick for about eighteen months. I had a trapped nerve in my back which had stopped me from doing my job which was quite physically demanding. I had been working as a heating and ventilation maintenance technician in the estates department of the University Hospital of Birmingham and had been employed by the NHS in this role for about four and half years. Prior to this I held several other quite physical roles including a window fitter and a plumber.

How did you find out about the training?
My Work Coach, Craig at Perry Bar Job Centre in Birmingham told me about the Civil Service course and encouraged me to consider joining. I knew I needed to look for a different type of profession, something which was non-physical. My wife works for Ingeus in a home-based customer facing role, and I thought I also had some skills I could put to good use if I could gain employment doing something similar.

Why did you decide to join?
I was stuck in a rut. I needed to look at a different approach to working and knew I had to keep an open mind. I needed something less physically demanding, and to reskill to help me move forward.

What did you think of the training? How did it help you?
The course was informative and the delivery staff, James and Luke, made things easy to understand. It was my first experience of learning remotely and liked the flexibility it gave me. I gained a new qualification and developed my transferrable skills. In my NHS role I had dealt with both staff and patients, and realised I had more skills to offer than I previously thought. During the course I had an interview for the role I went on to achieve. The interview practice and techniques that were part of the course helped me to be successful. I had never had an online interview which was very different to what I’d experienced before.

Were there any barriers or obstacles you had to overcome?
I needed to find a different type of employment, something that was not physical, but all I had known up to this point was physically demanding work. I was worried about this and doing the course gave me some more confidence to look for new things.

What are you doing now?
I’m starting employment as an Executive Officer with the Department of Work and Pensions in Erdington. In the role I will be supporting unemployed people back into work and helping them look for new training opportunities.

What impact has the training had on your life?
The training has given me the confidence to look for different types of jobs. I had experienced unemployment previously and then worked hard to get my role with the NHS. I turned my life around before I was affected by back problems. I enjoy helping people and now I’m looking forward to helping other people as much as I can.

What are your plans for the future?
I think life is about learning, and you get out what you put in. I’m going to work hard, take things as they come and see what happens.

What would you say to someone who was thinking about doing the training but wasn’t sure?
Go for it! You don’t realise how it will benefit you until you try. Life is hard and you have to put effort into it to get something worthwhile back. I have two children and having gained this job, I’m hoping it’s going to help relieve some stress on the family as the cost of living is biting.

Leave a Comment