March 2025
Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of participants. Their stories are shared with consent and with profound gratitude.
Susan had spent six years out of the workforce as a full-time carer for an elderly family member. With her caring responsibilities now reduced, she was desperate to return to work — but her confidence had been shattered by years of isolation, and she didn’t know where to begin.
Referred to Upturn through Jobcentre Plus, Susan arrived at her first appointment quietly spoken and visibly anxious. She had a strong background in health and social care, but the sector had changed significantly whilst she had been away, and she doubted whether her skills were still relevant.
Susan was matched with one of Upturn’s dedicated Talent Coaches — a specialist in supporting people returning to work after a career break. Together, they began by mapping Susan’s skills, values and aspirations — not just her employment history.
Over five weeks of one-to-one intensive support, the Talent Coach helped Susan to recognise the skills she had developed as a carer — empathy, patience, problem-solving, physical and emotional resilience — and reframe them as professional competencies that employers in the health and social care sector actively seek.
The team updated Susan’s CV, worked through mock interviews until she felt genuinely prepared, and identified a Community Champion transitional role — a paid, supported position designed to ease people back on to their career pathway with real responsibilities and real pay.
Susan accepted the Community Champion role and spent three months in a fully supported employment environment, building her confidence day by day. At the end of the placement, she was offered a permanent part-time position with a local health and social care employer — the start of the return to the career she had thought was behind her.
Today, Susan is working full-time in the care sector. She recently completed an accredited qualification to strengthen her practice and is exploring a progression pathway into supervisory management — something she would never have imagined at the start of her Upturn journey.
“I thought my working life was over. I had no confidence and didn’t even know how to look for work anymore. Upturn didn’t just help me find a job — they helped me find myself again. I’ll be forever grateful.”