Testimonials

For Employer Testimonials click here ...

Candidate Testimonials

Mohammed Shabani – March 2007

"I wanted to make sure that you know how grateful I am for the work you guys at Employability do, and that I have not forgotten either you, Tab or Sarah. Again, I just wanted to say thanks for everything."

Barnaby Hodgson – April 2007

"I very much look forward to the assessment centre and thank you so much for all your hard work on my behalf. EmployAbility, in particular both of you, Sarah and Tab, have been absolutely fantastic in supporting me through the whole process and I very much hope this time it comes to fruition."

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Matthew Wellington – April 2007

"I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all your help and support throughout the application and assessment processes with a leading investment bank. As you know, I have been successful in application and will be starting the internship in June. You have been very supportive throughout and I appreciate the effort you have made to ensure my needs have been catered for to the highest degree possible at each step of the way. This has made things so much easier! I feel your work before, during and after the actual assessment day itself has exceeded expectations and it is this personable and individualised support that candidates really need. Keep up the good work and see you in the summer."

Daniel McIntosh - March 2007

"I want to thank both of you Sarah and Tab for all your help and support in helping me onto the internship at UBS. You opened doors that I did not think were possible and I would not have got as far as I did had it not been for your support and advice. I really appreciate it."

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Neil Jones – April 2007

"EmployAbility have advised and supported me with my job search all the way through, from providing guidance on an appropriate career path, helping explore the various options and opportunities, assisting with applications and interview techniques and valuable tips. I received information and advice on many routes and opportunities in finding a job and developing a long term career including information on many disability friendly employers and disability organisations. EmployAbility also made opportunities available for networking through various events, which I found very helpful. With EmployAbility’s support and guidance I applied to an internship programme with a major bank working with EmployAbility and ended up being offered a permanent role on to their graduate programme. This was mainly due to the application guidance, interview tips and career counseling I gained from EmployAbility. "

Sam, March 2007

"I first met the staff from EmployAbility at a recruitment event, which was organised specifically for disabled people interested in investment banking. It involved networking with graduate employers and learning about their commitment to disability. Initially I was very nervous as the event involved participating in-group sessions ... "

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Candidate Testimonial – Barnaby Hodgson April 2007

What support and guidance have EmployAbility (or the staff at EmployAbility) given you during your job search?

"EmployAbility have been hugely supportive to me in my search for an internship. The ability to pick up the phone and talk to any of the staff members at EmployAbility has given me much help and confidence to pursue an internship, which can be quite a demoralising exercise. Before each interview or assessment centre either Tab or Sarah rang me up to give me a brief summary of the company, what to focus on and how to improve skills. As a result, I have been far better informed about the company than I would have been otherwise and I think that this definitely helped my performance. I can’t thank Tab or Sarah enough for all their support and guidance – they have been absolutely fantastic."

Has EmployAbility helped you with skills/ confidence? If so how?

"Yes, I believe that EmployAbility has definitely been an enormous help to me both with interview skills and with confidence. I had had a number of interviews for potential internships before I registered with EmployAbility. These had all been unsuccessful and as a result I was lacking belief in myself. However EmployAbility were extremely encouraging and as a result really helped boost my self-confidence and as a result I managed to get final round interviews with both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Investment Banking and Equity Divisions. Through EmployAbility I learnt the STAR technique to answer questions in interviews (Situation, Task, Action, Result) which made my answers more precise and professional. I also learnt the importance of emphasising teamwork and structuring answers better during interviews."

Has EmployAbility helped you gain a place on an internship programmes?

"At present I have not gained a place on an internship programme through EmployAbility although I am waiting to hear from Morgan Stanley Investment Banking Division. However, I have had many final round interviews thanks to EmployAbility from which I have learnt a huge amount. I currently have a place on an internship programme with KPMG and believe that I would not have got the place if it weren’t for the skills that EmployAbility taught me."

What are your views on the help you have received from EmployAbility? How did it improve your job prospects?

"I believe that I would never have had the chance to be interviewed at top financial institutions if it were not for EmployAbility. The fact that they could shortlist me meant that I was able to show that I could compete at some of the toughest firms, despite my disability."

If there is anything else you would like to add, please do so here.

"I want to say a huge thank you to Sarah and Tab for all their hard work and constant concern for me. They have both been brilliant to me and I am extremely grateful."

Candidate Testimonial – Daniel McIntosh, April 2007

"EmployAbility is a brilliant organisation that provides invaluable help and support for disabled students. Sarah and Tab have provided support and guidance throughout the entire process of applying for internships with investment banks. This has ranged from initial emails informing me of available vacancies, through to telephone calls encouraging me to pursue applications support and help on the actual days of assessment centres through to feedback on both applications forms and interviews. This has been extremely helpful, as not only did it ensure that I made applications, but it also meant I was made aware of where I was going wrong, in order to try to avoid making similar mistakes on further applications and interviews.

"With the help of the staff of EmployAbility personally I feel a lot more confident. I now feel confident to pursue career options that I previously would not have, and with regards to maths, with the encouragement of the EmployAbility staff I now feel a lot more confident in my mathematical ability. EmployAbility have helped me to gain a place on the Operations Internship Programme of a leading investment bank and prior to my initial contact with EmployAbility this was not an avenue that I would have pursued, however with the help and support of EmployAbility I have managed to gain a place on the programme. Also during the programme I will continue to receive support from the EmployAbility staff and this will prove particularly important and useful if things are not going to plan or with specific adjustments I may require as it will be a lot easier to seek help from someone I already have a relationship with.

"In general the help I have received from EmployAbility has proved invaluable and I will be eternally grateful. What has really helped been is the general friendliness and warmness of EmployAbility staff. Whether it be a friendly word, or an email to calm you down when you are nervous this reassurance helps ensure you perform to the best of your ability. The passion of the staff is also striking as they genuinely want you to be successful and will do everything within their powers to help you achieve your goals. This passion is a major factor in helping to make EmployAbility the fantastic organisation it is. I strongly recommend any student with disabilities to look up EmployAbility as soon as they can."

Candidate Testimonial – Sam, March 2007

"I first met the staff from EmployAbility at a recruitment event, which was organised specifically for disabled people interested in investment banking. It involved networking with graduate employers and learning about their commitment to disability. Initially I was very nervous as the event involved participating in-group sessions. Sarah Denness (Senior Manager at EmployAbility) was very supportive and put me at ease and encouraged me to join in with the various group discussions. I found the event extremely beneficial as it enabled me to network with employees from the leading investment banks, in particular with the diversity managers. I also met the diversity manager from Goldman Sachs, which was really beneficial as it gave me a valuable insight into the organisation. By attending the event it also demonstrated to recruitment staff that I was committed to working for their organisation and also learning about the industry. The recruitment event improved my communication skills greatly as it was necessary to discuss complex financial issues in groups. By attending the event I developed the necessary skills to perform well in-group discussions, which are commonly used at assessment centres. I also had the opportunity to meet other staff at EmployAbility and I learned about the various internships, which are run by the organisation for disabled people.

"After the recruitment event Sarah recommended that I should apply for internships in order to gain the necessary experience to find a permanent job. I wanted to work for Goldman Sachs as a result of the positive feedback obtained from my managers after completing the Prospects work placement and also due to the very supportive environment. I applied to three internships, at Motability, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. I managed to get to the interview stage for both Lehman Brothers and Motability Operations. Justin (my support worker from Prospects) and I contacted Sarah in order to discuss the reasonable adjustments so that I could perform to the best of my ability during the assessment centres. Sarah negotiated the reasonable adjustments with the organisations on my behalf. We agreed that for both the interviews it would be best if she was involved so that the various reasonable adjustments could be implemented. These included providing sufficient time to answer questions. In addition, she recommended that the interviewers use closed ended questions during the interview as individuals with an autism spectrum disorder find open-ended questions problematic. The Lehman Brothers assessment centre also included an assessed group exercise. I normally find group work very problematic as I experience high levels of social anxiety. Sarah explained these difficulties to the assessors and therefore a stronger emphasis was placed on the interview. Both interviews went really well and despite the Lehman Brothers assessment centre also consisting of group work I was offered a position on both internships. This was mainly due to Sarah negotiating the reasonable adjustments on my behalf.

"At Motability I completed the Business Systems Internship. The internship was six weeks in duration and I spent two weeks, in the Product Testing team, the Telecom’s team and finally the Networks and Security team. The Motability internship was really beneficial as it opened my eyes to a new avenue of work, which I had not considered previously. At Lehman Brothers I worked in Equity Derivatives in the Operations division. The internship included a number of positive elements. I improved my social skills considerably by meeting and going out with the other disabled interns. I also realised that investment banking was the correct career choice as I had proved that I could work effectively in this type of environment and finally that I now had sufficient knowledge in relation to the industry to perform well in interviews.

"After the completion of the internships I arranged a one to one session with both Sarah and Justin to decide how to move forward in terms of finding a permanent position. We decided that it would be best to apply to the graduate schemes of the investment banks. We also identified a back up career where we determined that it would be best to focus on administration in particular the financial side. To expand my understanding of the financial services industry, I attended the InvestAbility event organised by EmployAbility. The event was extremely beneficial. I spoke to a number of investment bank graduate recruiters concerning their graduate schemes. A representative from Goldman Sachs also spoke about producing the ideal CV and gave practical advice concerning competency-based interviews. The staff at EmployAbility provided me with invaluable advice concerning how to complete competency based application forms. In addition Sarah also provided me with training in regards to writing covering letters and made suggestions concerning how my CV could be improved. Once my application forms were completed Sarah examined them for reassurance purposes before being submitted.

"I managed to progress to the next stage of the Goldman Sachs recruitment process, the assessment centre. EmployAbility contacted the appropriate staff at Goldman Sachs and negotiated the necessary reasonable adjustments on my behalf. Sarah explained the difficulties which I experienced with psychometric testing to the diversity graduate recruiter. Before the interview Sarah also spoke to the managers, educating them about Asperger’s Syndrome and the approach which would be most suitable. EmployAbility also emphasised that the group assessment would be problematic due to difficulties in communication and social anxiety. Sarah attended all of the interviews with me and sat in on the group exercise, so that I would feel comfortable and so that if any problems arose she would be able to speak to the interviewers afterwards. As a result of Goldman Sachs commitment to disability and of taking on board Sarah’s recommendations, I was successful and was offered a permanent position on their Graduate Programme. Even after I was offered the job, staff from EmployAbility continued to provide me with their expertise and support. Sarah regularly offered me moral support and liaised with the firm in order to resolve any concerns which I had. Sarah also arranged meetings with both my team and the occupational health department to educate them concerning Asperger’s Syndrome and to provide free training concerning the adjustments which I would require to be successful in the work place.

"At Goldman Sachs I shall be working as an Analyst in Equity Derivatives within the Operations division. The Operations division looks after all the support facilities that sit behind the scenes once a trade has been agreed on the trading side. Our division maintains the risk system and adjustments are made to this system to ensure that all information is correct. Our team acts as a type of control department whose job it is to pick up any errors and correct them as quickly as possible in order to reduce any potential risk. The team also ensures that what the traders believe they have traded is booked correctly in the system. Another role is to ensure that what is booked into the risk system matches the payment system. Sarah will continue to offer me ongoing support by visiting me regularly in the workplace, to ensure that the reasonable adjustments are put into practice effectively, to check on my performance and to identify any potential problems quickly so that they can be resolved effectively.

"Registering with EmployAbility has been the best decision that I have ever made and has completely changed my life. Three years ago the prospect of finding a permanent job was very bleak. Without Sarah’s and EmployAbility’s support both to me directly and to Goldman Sachs, I am entirely certain that I would have never been accepted onto the Graduate Programme. By completing the internships at both Lehman Brothers, Motability Operations and by attending the Investability event, organised by EmployAbility, I developed the required skills to be successful during the Goldman Sachs recruitment process. The qualities which I acquired include communication, team working, analytical and decision-making skills. The internships also gave me valuable experience and improved my confidence enabling me to perform well in interviews. I would strongly recommend EmployAbility to disabled graduates who would like to develop experience in both the public and private sectors and also to individuals who are seeking permanent work. "

EmployAbility
33-41 Dallington Street
London
EC1V 0BB

Tel: 07852 764 684
Email: info@eability.org