Mark Brewster signed up with NOW Group in February 2021 after being referred to Employment Officer Chris Bolton from the Coleraine Jobs and Benefits Office. Mark was awaiting an Autism diagnosis and wanted help to look for employment / do some training. He had recently completed a BTEC Level 3 in ICT at the Northern Regional College but was unsure of his next steps.
Mark started off on NOW Group’s Verve programme before moving over to Frontier. He attended both the Progression to Employment and Managing a Personal Budget training courses during 2021. After completing these courses Mark attended the NOW Graduation Ceremony at Belfast City Hall and was awarded with his certificates.
In November 2021 Mark commenced his training on our Digital Academy course. Throughout this period Mark attended classes virtually from Monday to Thursday of each week and worked hard to complete his training booklet. Thanks to all of Mark’s hard work and support from our trainers / employment team he passed the course in February 2022 and was able to secure a three-month paid placement position working for Danske Bank in their Data Analytics team as a Data Placement.
Mark commenced this placement position on Wednesday the 13th of July 2022 and thoroughly enjoyed gaining valuable work experience in this role. Mark said "I enjoyed gaining my first ever experience of working through the NOW Group’s Digital Academy Programme. In particular I enjoyed learning about coding which I have identified as an area that I would like to develop and have a career in going forward.”
Now that his placement has come to an end Mark will continue to receive regular support from NOW Group to look for employment and hopes to pursue a career within the IT sector. For more information on NOW Group’s Training and Jobs Programmes and how you can get involved, visit our website today.