enhanced skills training for ethnic minorities
Training course ‘graduates’ are being called up to fill scores of positions being created at leading city contact centres.
Centres have teamed up with industry experts to target individuals with training for jobs in the booming sector.
The contact centre industry has grown by 250% in the past decade and now employs 18,000 people in the Cardiff area.
A unique two year pilot project targeted but not exclusive to the BME (black and minority ethnic) community is delivering jobs to people living in the southern arc of Cardiff.
The ESTEEM project, supported by the European Social Fund and managed by the Welsh Contact Centre Forum (WCCF), tackles issues relating to social exclusion, skills development and economic growth in marginalised communities.
Sandra Busby, Managing Director of the WCCF, said: “The ESTEEM Project is having a huge success in enabling the contact centre industry to target people from outside their more traditional recruitment pools. They must do this if they are to recruit new workers to this successful and growing industry.
“This unique project is particularly attractive to those looking to work in the industry as it not only offers a full week’s course, covering all aspects of work in a contact centre, but also offers the guarantee of an interview for a contact centre job on completion.”
Ms Busby said she was delighted the first tranch of recruits had now taken up contact centre positions and was confident many more will follow in their footsteps over the coming months.
Conduit, which employs some 500 people in Hodge House, Cardiff handling business for its main client Vodafone, is recruiting ESTEEM graduates.
Conduit Chief Commercial Officer, Neil Evans, said “We were pleased to be given the opportunity to take part in such a unique pilot project as the ESTEEM workshop and training programme.
“At Conduit we pride ourselves on our diverse employee backgrounds and programmes that are encouraging keen and enthusiastic individuals to seek a career in the contact centre industry can only prove beneficial to all parties involved.”
Conduit trainee Christopher Harriott, aged 44, of Splott, said: “This is the first time I have worked in this kind of an environment. I have applied for jobs in contact centres in the past but have previously never got beyond the interview stage.
“Completing the ESTEEM project workshop gave me a great insight into the kind of work involved and was the reason why I was successful at interview.
“Contact centres appear to offer a wide range of jobs and I am looking forward to developing a career here at Conduit.”
James Witcombe, 40, of Roath, worked in catering before gaining a place on the ESTEEM course.
“I didn’t know much about the industry prior to the course but I am always up for a challenge so took the plunge. The course was a great help is getting me ready for working in a contact centre, giving a clear insight into what the job entails and in helping me to be successful at interview.
“The training at Conduit has been very worthwhile. I now feel ready to get cracking in my new career.”
British Gas, which has a major contact centre in Cardiff, is also taking on ESTEEM recruits.
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“The support I have had throughout my training has been superb from the initial contact with the Welsh Contact Centre Forum through to the trainers at British Gas. I’m really looking forward to making a real success of my new career.”
Rukhsana Shahin, 30, of Riverside, who has also secured a job at British Gas was looking to return to work after spending the past 10 years bringing up her two children.
She said: “I knew I would have to update my skills to get back into work and was thrilled to find that ESTEEM offered me this chance and also a guaranteed job interview on completion.
“I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do but ESTEEM gave me a brilliant opportunity to find out about contact centre work and haven’t looked back since.”
British Gas Operations Manager Andrea Lee said the company was delighted to be involved with the ESTEEM project and looked forward to being able to offer interviews to more recruits in future.
The ESTEEM Project targets people in particular in the Cardiff areas of Butetown, Riverside, Grangetown and Adamsdown. It consists of ten, two hour contact centre workshops followed by series of week-
For more details on ESTEEM contact Christine Allen on 0800 838067
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Fore more press information contact David Barnes at Working Word PR on (029) 2048 8778 / 029 2055 7863 david.barnes@workingwordpr.com
Ends........
Fore more press information contact David Barnes at Working Word PR on (029) 2048 8778 / 029 2055 7863 david.barnes@workingwordpr.com