You would expect someone with a name like Daffodils Daffodils to be a natural optimist, but after two years of job hunting her hope was flagging, until she spotted an opportunity at Leonardo in Luton.

Daffodils grew up in Bihar in eastern India and moved to the UK with her husband after gaining several years' experience as an electronics engineer. She spent many months applying for jobs while raising two children, yet no career prospects emerged.

However, everything changed when she applied for a STEM Returners opportunity at global security company Leonardo in Luton. She was invited to interview and received a job offer soon after. STEM Returners works in partnership with companies to return experienced STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) professionals to the workplace after a career break, increasing diversity in industry.

Daffodils said: “I feel that my career hasn’t just been revived, it has been completely transformed. Leonardo didn’t care that there were gaps in my CV, as they could see I had strong engineering skills. I’ve used my previous experience as an electronics engineer creating devices to reskill for my current role, building major electronics capability for large programmes that will run for decades.”

Daffodils' career path has transformed after she found she could transfer her skills to a new industry.

placeholder image — Daffodils' career path has transformed after she found she could transfer her skills to a new industry.

Daffodils is keen that others who find themselves in the position she found herself in previously don't give up. She said: "You can't let it break you; you have to keep going. The STEM Returners scheme at Leonardo has been excellent for me, as it looks at what you are capable of as a person, not just what you have done so far. I didn’t know anything about fast jets or military capability that protects the armed forces and now I’m proud to be contributing to this technology every day.”

For the past five years, Leonardo has been working in partnership with STEM Returners to recruit talented individuals for their sites across the UK including Luton. So far, 45 professionals have returned to the STEM environment at Leonardo to pursue fulfilling and well remunerated careers. Plans are underway for a further 10 professionals to return to work through the programme at the company’s sites in Bristol, Edinburgh, Luton, Southampton, Newcastle, Lincoln and Basildon.

Natalie Desty, Director of STEM Returners, said: “Leonardo UK has become one of our most supportive allies in updating outmoded attitudes to career breaks, helping us return nearly 50 people back into the industry. We are very proud to be continuing our partnership with Leonardo and hope it will enable more people to return to the profession they love.”

Over the years, the programmes have created a path for returners to rise through the ranks of the organisations they join, proving that the application of transferrable skills can enrich a company’s workforce.

Rachel Ruxton, Head of Inclusion and Diversity at Leonardo said: “STEM Returners has helped us to identify talented and motivated individuals in Luton and the surrounding area. We have such a big presence here in Luton already and we’re set to expand our workforce in the coming months, so that we can hire more experienced professionals including engineers. We’ve found that the diversity of thought and experience that STEM returners can bring to our business has been a tremendous source of inspiration and dynamism for our business.”

Six hundred candidates have joined STEM Returners programmes across the UK, since the organisation first launched in 2017. To view STEM Returners’ opportunities, visit https://stemreturners.com/live-programmes/