Melissa, aged 35, was made redundant by her long term employer just as she was preparing to come off maternity leave. Finding herself in anunexpected situation, she used the opportunity to extend her leave to look after her two young children and care for her husband.

But Melissa’s career had meant a lot to her, and she found herself beginning to struggle as time went on.

“It made me somewhat depressed because I just didn’t feel like I had my own identity anymore. Being a stay at home wife or mum… it's just not me. I wasn't giving 100% because I still felt like I had more to offer.

Whilst I really care for my family, I’m at my best when I'm working - I love my career. I worked very, very hard to build it, and I've always aimed to progress and develop myself wherever I go. I didn’t want to lose that, but I felt like I was. And as a result, I felt like I was losing my sense of purpose as well.”

So after six months, Melissa began looking for work. Dealing with the implications of having been made redundant, Melissa found herself navigating the job search whilst also dealing with low confidence and imposter syndrome. She suffered repeated knocks to her confidence during the process, with one interview having significant impact.

“Up until the final stage, they had been chasing me, but after the final interview I was the one that had to chase them. The only thing that had changed was that in the interview, I’d had to explain my need for flexibility in terms of childcare and caring for my husband. And the mood changed - everything had been flowing, it was natural. But then when it got to that bit, it changed.

It took them weeks to eventually get back to me. That really hurt me. The thing that hurt me even more was that the person that got the role was someone I had managed in the organisation I was with previously. And I’m sure she did well in the interview, but for me… I interpreted that as actually, she probably just came with a lot less baggage.”

With her confidence having been severely impacted, Melissa was referred to Smart Works.  

“The coach made me feel comfortable, made me realise that I do have the potential - I have it on paper, I just needed to bring it out verbally."

The dressing session was the icing on the cake. It brought everything to life, so when I went into that interview, my whole approach changed. I was sitting up taller and the eye contact was there, because I wasn’t worried about the fact that you my clothes weren’t right.

"I had the confidence to go and sit in that interview and actually walk away knowing I gave it my best. And I remember saying to myself that even if I didn’t get the job, I knew my confidence and my presentation of me was on point, and that was enough.

Before I came to Smart Works, I’d lost count of how many interviews I had. But it only took two for me to get the job. I know that Smart Works played a big part in that”