‘I was rejected from nearly 100 jobs and spent 18 months on benefits – now I’ve landed my dream job as a barrister’

A man who was rejected from nearly 100 jobs and had to spend 18 months on benefits has finally secured his dream job as a barrister. Taz Aldeek, 29, saw his applications regularly get knocked back despite having three degrees – including a master's.

He had to apply to Universal Credit to survive and racked up £10,000 of debt, not including his tuition and accommodation loans from university. But Taz, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, has now secured a job as a case officer at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and will be starting a pupillage at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in September.

He said: “It was a very difficult time for me, my physical health was deteriorating, and I was trying my best to stay positive but felt like I was in a dark place. Now I’m ready for the job, I’ve got the experience and I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be. I’m happy to be in crime and public service with the CPS. It feels like I’m making a meaningful impact in my community.”

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Taz graduated from Sheffield University in 2016 with a 2:1 honours degree in Law and Criminology. He then graduated from the same university the following year with a distinction in Master of Laws in Corporate and Commercial Law.

But he felt like he “didn’t fit the mould” of a barrister and volunteered at Manchester Crown Court witness service while working in a hotel to save money. Taz knew his interests lay in criminal law and took on a four-month voluntary internship in the US in a death row office as part of the Louisiana Capital Post Conviction Project.

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On his return to the UK, Taz