Customer service staff help young people secure a job

A partnership between Careers Wales and Tesco is educating young people in the essential skills needed to secure a job when leaving education.

Staff from the supermarket’s Customer Service Centre, based in Cardiff, are working alongside Careers Wales to teach young people about interview skills, recruitment and the selection processes.

The scheme comes at a crucial time for young job applicants in Wales.  The most recent government figures show unemployment among young people has risen to over 1 million, meaning that more than one in five people under the age of 25 are out of work.

And new research from the TUC says as many as seven unemployed people are chasing every job vacancy in parts of Wales.

Tesco opened its Customer Service Centre in October 2006, and has created more than 1,000 positions since opening.  More than 325 jobs were created in the last 12 months alone.

Mark Rowlands heads up the Community Team at the Tesco Customer Service Centre, which is involved in a string of local schemes and partnerships in Cardiff, and is keen to share recruitment experience with the local community.

He said:  “Mock interviews are an important part of preparing the students for the world of work or entry to further or higher education.  For most, it will be the first experience of the interview process.”

The Tesco Customer Service Centre was presented with an Education Business Partnership Award for the company’s involvement in mock interviews.  Louise Cowell, recruitment manager at Tesco, has supported mock interview programmes in secondary schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan for more than a year, along with Mark.

Avril Jackson from Careers Wales said:  “We are very grateful to representatives from the company who give their time and energy to help young people plan and prepare for adult and working life.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Tesco Customer Services as part of their initiative to get involved with the community and local neighbourhood.”

Tesco hopes to enrol more staff to take part in the scheme over the year and is planning to attend more school events across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Pictured above: Louise Cowell & Mark Rowland