Age proves no barrier for Neil
29 Nov. 2025
Job hunting at the age of 60 wasn’t part of Neil’s career plan, nor was it proving easy. When an opportunity at Ingeus came along, his luck – and career path – took a new direction.
Now 61, Neil works as a Work and Health Coach within the Work Well team in Wigan. His working life with Ingeus began in March 2024, after spotting a job advert and finding the courage to apply.
“I’d applied for a few jobs before Ingeus but wasn’t even getting interviews,” reveals Neil, whose career history includes business-to-business sales and customer service.
“The Ingeus advert came out of the blue, and I went for it The participant-facing aspect of the role really appealed to me. I felt comfortable dealing with the public, even though the employability sector was totally new to me. When I attended the assessment centre and realised who I was up against, I thought I had no chance!
“Ingeus saw something in me and gave me the chance I needed. I thought it would be exceedingly difficult to adapt to working in a totally different sector, but I realise now how many of my skills have been transferrable. I used to speak with people about engineering products, but now I’m talking to them about support services, and more importantly themselves.”
His life experience and transferrable skills proved attractive to Ingeus. More than 18 months later he’s thriving in the company – so much so that when Ingeus’ contracts were changing earlier this year, he was encouraged to apply for the role as Work and Health Coach, on the new Work Well programme.
As part of the Wigan Work Well team, Neil travels around his local area to meet participants at local venues such as libraries, family hubs, and cafes. Being on the road means he doesn’t have a set office-base, but his colleagues are still an integral part of his life at Ingeus.
He explains: “The support has always been there from my team, my manager and the company as a whole; throughout my onboarding, my colleagues were brilliant. If it hadn’t been for their support, I wouldn’t be as confident as I am now in doing my job. There were times when it was challenging learning everything in the early days, but they have been so supportive.
“Yes, the benefits package is attractive, especially the pension at my age, but it’s about more than that. The values and culture of Ingeus are totally embedded. Me and my colleagues do our best to promote Ingeus’ values, we support each other and we believe in changing lives. I’ll be very happy working for Ingeus until I retire.”
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