Tyrese Taylor is a Newham resident who came to ELBA through a personal recommendation and found the support invaluable to navigate the graduate job market.

Please tell us about yourself to give readers an understanding of your journey
Born and raised in Newham, I grew up as an only child from a working-class background. I went on to study Finance and Economics at Anglia Ruskin University, and it was in the transition out of university that I encountered the biggest obstacle of my journey so far: navigating the graduate job market with no clear roadmap and no established network to draw on. Coming from a background where routes into corporate careers were not visible or well understood, I often felt out of place among peers who seemed to already have the vocabulary, contacts and confidence that I had to build from scratch, and there was a real fear that every month without progress put me further behind. It was against that backdrop that ELBA became involved, offering not just information but the kind of structured, hands-on exposure that helped translate my ambition into a concrete plan.

How did you hear about ELBA?
I first heard about ELBA through word of mouth. A friend of mine, who ELBA had reached out to shortly after they graduated, told me about the support available, and that personal recommendation gave me the confidence to get in touch myself.

Please tell us about how ELBA has supported you?
ELBA’s support was very practical and layered. They arranged for me to attend insight sessions and panels at organisations including EY and Deutsche Bank, which gave me direct exposure to these industries and helped me start to picture which route I actually wanted to pursue. Alongside this, they supported me with CV writing, which sharpened how I presented my own story and experience on paper. I was paired with a mentor who gave me honest, grounded insight into navigating the job market, ran practice interviews with me and pointed me toward job opportunities I could apply for. Taken together, this was less about being handed a job and more about being equipped with the tools, contacts and confidence to go and find one myself.

What difference has this support made to to you/your challenges?
The support ELBA provided made a tangible difference, most notably in building my confidence, while also giving me access to opportunities and exposure that would otherwise have been difficult to obtain. ELBA helped me develop the interpersonal and self-development skills required to strengthen my prospects, both in securing a role and in navigating the corporate environment once I had entered it. Reflecting on this experience, what stands out most is how often opportunities of this kind are not readily visible or accessible to people from certain areas. For someone from my background, it is not always clear that these pathways exist, let alone how to access them, and ELBA helped bridge that gap in a way that has shaped my career from the very beginning.

Would you recommend ELBA to others and, if so, why?
The support ELBA provided made a tangible difference, most notably in building my confidence, while also giving me access to opportunities and exposure that would otherwise have been difficult to obtain. ELBA helped me develop the interpersonal and self-development skills required to strengthen my prospects, both in securing a role and in navigating the corporate environment once I had entered it. Reflecting on this experience, what stands out most is how often opportunities of this kind are not readily visible or accessible to people from certain areas. For someone from my background, it is not always clear that these pathways exist, let alone how to access them, and ELBA helped bridge that gap in a way that has shaped my career from the very beginning.