Student Story: Mursel

Mursel is a refugee. He was a lawyer before he came to the UK. When he arrived, he had no idea what to do.

He was unemployed and lacked finances so he considered his options.

Mursel decided to try to change career.

Mursel wanted to change careers to find a meaningful job and secure a good future for his family

“I wanted to find a meaningful job and prepare a good future for my family,” says Mursel. He decided to try changing his career to a career in tech.

“One of my friends recommended CodeYourFuture,” he says. CodeYourFuture trains refugees and people who have financial, social or other challenges. “CodeYourFuture support people like me, and it’s free,” says Mursel.

Unique community support.

“My friend also told me about the special CodeYourFuture community.” continues Mursel. “This community supports you all the way, even after graduation! So, I decided to apply to CodeYourFuture.”

“I didn’t have any previous experience, nothing! CodeYourFuture people helped me every step.”

Claire Bickley, the regional manager for the West Midlands programme says: “Mursel was absolutely determined from the moment I met him. He would join our face to face drop in sessions whenever he could and receive support from others. Every week he would bring his notepads, each page full of scribbles he had made. Starting from the absolute basics of code, he savoured every new thing he learned.”

Learning to solve problems and work in a team.

At CodeYourFuture, Mursel learned to learn like professionals, which means he learnt how to approach complex problems systematically.

Mursel also learned to work in a team. “Working as a team was very useful,” Mursel says, “I enjoyed the challenge of working on projects as part of a team”.

Working on projects is an essential aspect of the CodeYourFuture programme; it dramatically improves learning and prepares trainees for the tech industry.

Mursel was supported all the way.

Trainees at CodeYourFuture receive mentoring on their technical and soft skills to succeed in interviews, teamwork, and the technical aspects of projects.

“CodeYourFuture provides proper guidance,” says Mursel “my education mentor did very well. He followed our progress perfectly.”

While training with CodeYourFuture, Mursel got support from his DWP Universal Credit work coach too. “My work coach supported me the whole way; he was really helpful and understood my goals”.

Mursel reached his goal and found a great job in tech.

When he received a phone call from Capgemini’s hiring recruiter with a job offer as a Software Developer, Mursel knew he had succeeded in starting his tech career. “I felt super emotional 😭 because I reached my goal!”.

Claire, says of Mursel’s success: “Through commitment and challenge anybody can work in tech. Mursel truly embraced the opportunity and continues to be a valued member of CYF West Midlands. Thanks to the support of our amazing volunteers, the sky is the limit for Mursel and many others!”

What does Mursal have to say about his success?

“I am very confident about coding now, and I believe in myself.” And he offers this advice, “If you are thinking of launching your tech career with CodeYourFuture, do it. You are not alone in CodeYourFuture, don’t worry.”

Are you interested in joining CYF as a student? Visit our study page to start your coding journey.

Are you interested in joining the CYF community as a volunteer? Visit our volunteer page and register your interest.