Getting into retail with the Prince’s Trust – Kyle’s story

Written by Stephanie Carney, Youth Development Lead, The Prince’s Trust

Kyle, 24, from Edinburgh was unemployed before his work coach at the Job Centre told him about the Prince’s Trust retail course in partnership with BP.  He is now embarking on a career with BP and is excited for his future with the company.

Kyle had never been in paid employment and was looking for something to do after he wrapped up his volunteer work for Cancer Research UK in January 2023. He had been applying for lots of jobs, however, he had rarely heard back and for those he did hear back from, he hadn’t been successful in the interview stage.

“My mental health wasn’t the best it could have been, I had a lot of self-doubt and self-esteem issues when it came to my abilities and what I could actually do.”

However, when his work coach stumbled upon a Prince’s Trust advertisement, Kyle came along to meet with an Edinburgh Youth Development Lead and went through the BP induction process, progressing onto the Taster Day.  When Kyle got accepted onto the programme, he was ecstatic.

During the course, he loved that the Prince’s Trust was there throughout to check if he was doing okay and really appreciated the support and guidance he got from BP during the work experience.

“I felt like it was actually way more helpful to get the experience and get to know everyone in the store ahead of the interview as they had already spent time with me. Not only that but the work experience itself helped me formulate what I was going to say in the interview!”

“When it comes to job interviews normally, you go in, and they ask you a bunch of questions, but you don’t really know them as a person, and they don’t really know me. That wasn’t the case with this course!”

When the course finished, Kyle was successful in securing a permanent position with BP after a fantastic job interview.

“Getting to learn new things and work alongside people really helped my confidence! The future, for me, is looking pretty good.”

Kyle is looking forward to seeing what’s next for him at BP.

“If anyone was thinking about doing this course in the future, I’d say go for it! No questions asked. It helped me so much and I’ve now got a lot of confidence in myself. It’s an absolute no brainer.”

The Prince’s Trust work in Edinburgh is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.  To find out more about the Get Into courses visit the Princes Trust website.