Sunday October 6 2024
Swindon & Wiltshire News
A pioneering scheme to help young people prepare for the world of work and improve the pool of talented labour is being launched in Swindon next week.
Backed by town employers and run by Back on Track Teens, the two-day courses will help the young delegates better understand their strengths and interests and steer them towards careers they will enjoy and excel in.
The Work Ready courses will also be held in places of work, to give participants a taste of what it is like to be in employment.
Businesses which sponsor the courses will then be able to select from a pool of talented, work-ready young people when they need to recruit.
Banks, Chartered Accountants are co-sponsoring the first course on March 17 and 18, which will be held at their Stratton offices and run by Back on Track Teens’ founder TeeJay Dowe.
The other sponsor is Talent Dynamics, a UK-based development training company which helps individuals and teams work effectively, and on which the Back on Track Teens courses are based.
“The biggest challenge that young people face today is that they have low self-confidence and cannot see their worth to an employer, or they have so many options and opportunities that they have no clear vision and are confused about the jobs or careers that would suit them best,” said TeeJay.
“Work Ready will allow young people to better understand their strengths so that they can confidently talk about themselves at interview and give them the experience of working together on a business project to better understand what is expected of them in a work-place.
“It’s about enabling them to discover what they are capable of, knowing what an employer is looking for and showing up with the right attitude.”
Richard Mathews, Banks director, said he was keen to support the Work Ready programme, which will help develop young talent in Swindon.
“We like to employ locally where we can, so anything which helps young people in the town to find out what they are good at and what they want to do can only improve the talent of the pool of potential recruits.”
Thanks to business sponsorship, each Work Ready course is free, and is open to 18 to 23-year-olds living in the Swindon area.
TeeJay said: “We are very grateful to Banks and to Talent Dynamics for being our first sponsors. We are looking for sponsors for our next courses and in return we can offer these businesses some valuable in-house Talent Dynamics development training, as well as access to our young people when they need to recruit.”
For more information, visit www.backontrackteens.com or email teejay@backontrackteens.com
