Peter uses life experiences to start reshaping his career.
Excelling in catering
Peter, 53, who lives in Brecon, enjoyed a full and varied career in the catering industry for over 30 years.
He is an award-winning chef, achieving head chef status in one of the best pubs in Wales. He has worked across the UK and more recently was a business owner of some eateries in Wales.
Peter made his first leap from being an employee to starting his own business, in 2017 when an opportunity arose to buy an established business.
The business flourished, and even though the hours were long, and it was a juggling act balancing working with a young family, Peter enjoyed the overall experience of being his own boss.
Covid 19 and the cost-of-living crisis impacted heavily on the food industry, and in 2022 the business closed. This directly impacted on Peter’s mental health, and he started to feel at a complete loss, financially and emotionally.
Reaching out for careers support
Peter had never received careers support before, and hadn’t been to a Job Centre until 2023, when he was advised to visit his local centre.
Brecon Job Centre told Peter about the financial support he could receive when being out of work and the employability support he could get from Careers Wales.
Peter was introduced to Jon, a Working Wales careers adviser for Careers Wales, and through one-to-one sessions, they started working through Peter’s options.
Thinking back on that time, Peter says, “I was at quite a low point and was struggling with my mental health. I was unsure of my next steps and wasn’t sure if looking for another job in catering was the right move for me, but I felt completely out of touch with education and learning new skills.”
Reflecting on his career and early life Peter says, “Catering is all I’ve ever known. I left school at 16 and went to college to study food tech, before going straight into the catering industry.”
“I’m dyslexic, and I was never that great in school. I’ve always had a passion for creating good food. I also find it easy to communicate well with people, and that’s important in catering as it’s a very people related industry.”
Moving forward and starting a new career
Working together, Jon and Peter worked through the process of what to do next. This included learning about Peter’s transferable skills and how to use them to get into another area of work.
Talking about the careers support he received, Peter says, “It helped with starting to build a picture of myself, who I was and what I needed to learn to move forward.
“The whole process started to make me feel much more positive about myself and my abilities. Gradually my mental health started to improve.”
During the sessions, Jon discussed the potential of Peter using his own experience with mental health, and his existing communication skills to progress into a career helping others through similar situations.
With Jon’s help, Peter applied and was successful in gaining a position in the NHS, on an aspiring nurse apprenticeship training course. The three-year course is fully funded and includes both study and practical on the job training.
When fully qualified Peter will be a mental health nurse.
Peter says, “Jon, my careers adviser was so good and so supportive. I’ve discovered that it’s not too late to start afresh and start something new. You’re never too old and life still has a lot to give.”
If you've been inspired by Peter's story, you can book a free career review to help you make a career change.
