Every cloud has a silver lining

Being made redundant can be a grim experience for anyone. Just ask the one in seven Brits who lost their jobs between 2008 and 2013. But for every cloud, there can be a silver lining.

“The silver lining for me, was finding my dream job which began with redundancy in April 2014.” says Luke Golecki.

My experience didn’t seem transferable

I emigrated from Poland in 2005, having spent two years at a university doing accounting and bookkeeping while also working full time as assistant in a local bank. I felt I had real knowledge and experience.
But three weeks after arriving in the UK I got a dead end job in a sandwich shop which I stayed with for five years. I later moved to a bank to become an analyst preparing legal documentation for loans and solicitors and I felt this was a better working environment suited to my skills and talents.
It was at this point that I decided with all my experience and knowledge I could go back into accounting full time. I signed up to AAT with Premier Training and invested in level 2 of the qualification. I knew the benefit of gaining a formal qualification so well regarded in the UK.

Back on the job hunt

In June the same year my bank announced a big wave of redundancies and my date was April 2014. Having already signed up to AAT I knew that when I left the bank I wanted to get back into the finance and accounting arena. So I knuckled down to do my Level 2 which I completed in September and immediately started Level 3, hoping to complete it by the beginning of April. I felt that employers would be impressed by my commitment to the qualification and I may stand out from the crowd. I didn’t stop there.

Importance of networking and a good CV

I attended an AAT event where AAT career coach Aimee Bateman spoke on the importance of a good CV and LinkedIn profile when job hunting. Subsequently I made sure that my CV and LinkedIn were as perfect as I felt they could be. It took hours and many reviews to make the CV and profile the way I wanted them to be, selling myself, my best transferable skills and showing off my AAT achievements.
I started looking for a job about six weeks before I left the bank, trying to secure an interview so I could go from one job straight into another. A few people called offering jobs but, they always said they’d get back to me in a few days and never did.

After I left the bank I was calling my local accounting practices, asking whether I could get some unpaid work experience, anything to get my foot in the door. Then I got in touch with a few charities and companies asking for the same however, they all said they didn’t have spare desks for me to sit at. It was very disappointing; I started to think that I’d be stuck at home for months.

Perseverance paying off

One day I forwarded my CV to the company I’m with now, Alliance Surgical plc, While it represented a cut in pay from my previous role, the job description – for an Accounts Assistant opportunity – looked promising. A couple of days later I got a call from them. They did a telephone interview with me and invited me to a second interview with the company’s director, the interview went very well and I got fantastic feedback. I was then invited to a third interview. I was starting to feel very hopeful.

During the interviews they didn’t mention that they could sponsor my studies, so when they called back not only offering me the job but also saying they would invest in my qualification on my behalf I was of course over the moon.
I’m now settling in nicely to my new role and my career is back on track.

The perseverance and hard work paid off and now I’ve got the job I dreamed of.

Luke Golecki is an AAT student.