Volunteer spotlight: Khalil
Khalil is an advice and guidance volunteer with a wealth of knowledge and experience as a former quantitative hedge fund manager. He has been providing CV writing skills, interview tips and career advice to refugee clients.
When I needed advice on helping an asylum seeker who had the right to work in the UK obtain employment, I came across Breaking Barriers. At that time, I had been volunteering for several years with Speak Street, a charity that offers free English classes and events to refugees and asylum seekers, and the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants.
As a former quantitative hedge fund manager in the City with over two decades of experience in CV writing, job interviews, and career advice, it was a natural progression for me to offer my services to Breaking Barriers.
So far, I have helped several refugee clients write bespoke CVs and covering letters to give them the best chance of finding meaningful employment in the UK. The variation in the role keeps me interested and motivated, and I even had a recent opportunity to offer advice to a Breaking Barriers client who was considering applying for a patent!
My involvement in Breaking Barriers has a very personal resonance, as my parents were economic migrants in the 1960s. Although they have now made a life for themselves in the UK, it would have been fantastic to have had access to support and advice from Breaking Barriers if it had existed then.
