Celebrating the success of Customer Service Academy with EE

Discover Work are today celebrating the success of 10 aspiring customer service professionals who have completed our 4 week sector-based academy in partnership with telecommunications company EE. Training, hosted at Dundee & Angus College was delivered by teaching staff at the college and Discover Work employability staff with input from EE staff. EE have guaranteed interviews for all of the candidates completing the course which coincides with their latest round of recruitment.

Scott, one of the successful completers had this to say about the Academy:

“This has been a fantastic opportunity for me, the course is perfectly tailored to starting a new job in a contact centre environment.  Not only is the course content relevant it’s all delivered in a really supportive way as well. The support from the employability team is also fantastic the help with cv and cover letters is invaluable.  I’ve also met a whole bunch of brilliant new people who I’m hoping to be working with for years to come.”

Discover Work would like to thank all of the participants for their hard work over the 4 weeks and to EE and BT Group for their continued investment in Dundee and its people.

To find out more about our sector-based training academies please contact us on [email protected]

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Discover Work Newsletter April 2023

Click here to view the latest Discover Work newsletter featuring news stories, case studies and other useful employability information.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this edition. Please get in touch via [email protected] if you would like to contribute to future newsletters.

Celebrating Achievements of Aspiring Parking Attendants

Participants along with staff and Councillor Steven Rome at The Shore to celebrate completion of Discover Work Academy

Discover Work are today celebrating the achievements of participants on our latest sector-based skills academy, this time run in partnership with Dundee City Council’s Parking Attendants.

The group have completed a two week training course at The Shore, delivered by Adult Employability Service and Parking Attendant staff. The Academy has also benefitted from support by All in Dundee and Youth Employability Service.

This unique opportunity has given participants an insight into the skills and attributes needed to gain and sustain employment as a Parking Attendant at Dundee City Council.

Principal Parking Officer at Dundee City Council, Mandy Sivewright thanked the group and reflected on the Academy:

“This is the first time we have approached recruitment in this way and I have to say, it’s been a real eye-opener. […] Normally I would only be able to meet people for 30 minutes in an interview before hiring. Over the past two weeks though, I’ve been able to get to know candidates more and I’m blown away by the time and effort that they’ve all put in. Thank you!”

For some of the Academy participants, the two weeks has been helpful in overcoming potential barriers to employment. Orran, who is 20 years old found the experience to be helpful, saying:

“For the past six months I’ve been unemployed. In that time I’ve gone into massive depressive episodes and haven’t had the support I needed […] It wasn’t until this course that I’ve felt supported in trying to find a job that matches my education level.”

“Natalie & Vicky [Adult Employability Service] have been a massive help with everything, without them I wouldn’t be confident to apply for this kind of job. Big thanks to all the staff involved.”

The Roads & Transportation department at Dundee City Council have guaranteed interviews for all course completers, these will take place over the next 2 weeks. Our partnership wishes all the best for the participants moving forward and thanks Councillor Steven Rome (Deputy Convener, City Development) for his attendance at today’s event and on-going support for employability initiatives in Dundee.

If your business could benefit from a sector-based work academy, please contact us on [email protected] for more information.

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Spotlight on Apprenticeships – Event for Tayside Employers by Developing the Young Workforce

Poster for Spotlight on Apprenticeships event by Developing the Young Workforce Tayside, including QR code

Employers, are you looking to take on apprentices or already offering apprenticeship opportunities?

Come along to DYW Tay Cities event, Spotlight on Apprenticeships, at Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce on the 21st of April, between 10AM – 12PM.

Learn about the benefits of apprenticeships from the Apprentice Ambassadors, take part in a ‘bust the myth’ discussion on how to solve the barriers to providing successful apprenticeship opportunities and afterwards you can network with other employers, DYW Tay Cities, the Apprentice Ambassadors and Skill Development Scotland.

Either scan the QR code (in the image above) or sign up using this link – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spotlight-on-apprenticeships-tickets-592306002197

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Refugee Awareness and Right to Work Session for Employers – Free Online Information Session

Delivered by Scottish Refugee Council in partnership with Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross Local Employability Partnerships

Refugees are in the news all the time at the moment which brings up certain questions, for example, what’s the difference between a refugee, asylum seeker and a migrant? Are they a group of potential candidates we can recruit from? How can we as an employer offer them employment opportunities or check if they have the right to work? 

This session will help you to understand the different terminology that is used, what rights and entitlements people have, challenges that they face when they seek employment in the UK and what you can do as an employer to support them in the recruitment process.

Date: Thursday 4th May 2023
Time: 10am to 12pm
Register in advance for this online session via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpf-yhrjsuHtcQLQpSVHtpFG3t7WFb09NG    

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to join the session.

If you are unable to attend this session and you are interested in attending a future session, please contact:
[email protected]

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Discover Work Customer Service Academy with EE

Flyer for Discover Work’s upcoming Customer Service Academy in partnership with EE

For the first time Discover Work have partnered up with telecommunications company EE (part of the BT Group) to deliver a 4 week training academy for Dundee residents to train for jobs in their contact centre in Dundee.

The 4 week academy will give participants a chance to develop skills relevant to the various call centre and customer service job opportunities available in the sector, site visits and the one to one support needed for the journey towards work.

Information sessions will be held online 6pm, Thursday 16th March 2023 and in-person 10am, Tuesday 28th March at The Shore, 15 Shore Terrace, Dundee, DD1 3DN.

Training will take place at Dundee & Angus College, Gardyne Campus from Monday 17th April to Friday 12th May.

To be eligible for the course you must be a Dundee resident, aged 16+ years old and not in full-time work or education. Although no experience or qualifications are required, the opportunity will require the use of a computer, email and other IT systems and applications, so a general awareness of and willingness to learn in this area is recommended for participants.

For enquiries and to apply/refer someone, please email [email protected]