Baitshepi Isaac had longed to work for the NHS but was struggling to get her foot on the ladder. After enrolling onto Leicester College’s NHS/LPT (Leicestershire Partnership Trust) Sector-Based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), she managed to land her ideal role, working in clinical administration.

Preparing to enter the workforce again

After pausing her career to start a family, Baitshepi was out of work and was struggling to get back in. She had wanted to work for the NHS for a long time but with a background predominantly in hospitality, she didn’t have the right experience and was getting nowhere in her job hunt.

“I went to the Job Centre to see if they would be able to offer me some support and they told me about this SWAP course at Leicester College,” she says. “I had never heard of it before but I decided to give it a go.”

Baitshepi enrolled onto the course which equips students with the right skills and qualifications to work in the NHS, and also offers support with completing applications for current LPT and wider NHS vacancies in business administration, health care, customer services, catering, IT, HR and more. Leicester College is the only institution in the area to offer this kind of course.

“The course really prepared me”

Baitshepi says that the course really helped her, not just by breaking down the job vacancies and applications to make them easier to understand, but she was also given support with completing job applications and understanding what she’d be doing for work, which she says really boosted her confidence.

“I’d been out of work for a few years when my kids were born and my background was in hospitality,” she continues. “But I learnt so much – things like safeguarding, communications and how to improve my interviewing skills. The staff at the College were really supportive and I was able to learn quickly and get the knowledge I needed to switch my career path to the NHS.”

Baitshepi is now working with the NHS as a clinical administrator and plans to stay with the organisation.

“I hope to gain more opportunities to study further in the future,” she adds. “But I’m happy with my job right now – the SWAP course really did change my life.

“I would definitely recommend the course to other students. In fact, my husband did the same course and he’s now working in a job that he loves. The course and the College have both helped me so much with my confidence and improving my skills. It really was one of the best decisions I made for my future.”