Jordan, 27, talks about the struggles he’s experienced looking for a job since graduating two years ago with a degree in Games Computing. And how he’s been working with our Employability Officer, Jack McLellan, to open up more career possibilities and improve his confidence during interviews.
“The charity’s employability helpline has massively improved my confidence”
I left my home in Hertfordshire at age 21 and moved to study Games Computing at the University of Lincoln. Living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, this was a huge step for me which wasn’t without its challenges, but I gained an undergraduate degree and left university with a masters in the same field two years ago.
Finding a job in the gaming industry is hard
When I moved back home, I was filled with excitement about my career prospects. But finding a job has been more difficult than I anticipated. This is due to a few different reasons, some unrelated to my disability, like gaming being a very competitive industry and large video game companies having made big layoffs in the last year or so.
My biggest obstacle, though, is down to location. Most jobs in the video games industry are in big cities or in places which are too far to commute to, which would mean me having to move near the job. However, this is nearly impossible due to needing to adapt a property to suit my needs. The number of jobs I can apply for are therefore significantly reduced. There are few remote work opportunities due to companies wanting you to work in their offices because of the difficulty accessing the software and content needed to work remotely for video games.
Using Muscular Dystrophy UK’s employability services
After about a year of looking and beginning to get disheartened, my mum suggested I contact Muscular Dystrophy UK to see if they had any advice. I was put in contact with Jack, the charity’s Employability Officer, which I was a bit nervous about as I wasn’t sure he’d be able to help me. But Jack soon put me at ease, and he’s been a great support.
We’ve been working together for around eight months now. The main thing we’ve been looking at is other areas of work I could branch out into, such as IT, which have more remote working opportunities.
“Jack has helped me update my CV and offered useful tips for writing cover letters. He’ll often just pop me an email to see how I’m getting on and send a few job application links he thinks may be a good fit for me.”
I’m still on the hunt for a job to launch my career but knowing I can call or email Jack with any questions or concerns is a huge comfort. I’ve applied for several jobs since we’ve been working together and got through to two different writing test stages which is really good experience for me. Jack recently got me onto an IT training course to perfect my skills which was super helpful.
I’d encourage anyone in the community who’s struggling with employment or has questions about their rights at their current job to contact the employability helpline.
“As much as we want to believe our condition doesn’t play a part in our work lives, it does for many of us, so knowing Muscular Dystrophy UK can provide support in navigating some of these barriers is great.”
Find out how to contact the employability helpline.
