Building A Career

Having been previously employed in a local petrol station, Matthew Mckie felt he was lacking in direction and focus.

 

Frustration drove him to the Job Centre in search of employment and better career prospects. Matthew was referred to LRC Training where, after an initial interview, he was enrolled onto the Lift Truck route of the Government funded Skill Build Programme.

For the first few weeks, Matthew was based at LRC Training’s training centre, where he became familiar with the knowledge and essential skills, like good interview techniques, to prepare him for a new working environment.

With greater confidence and better self-presentation, Matthew was assigned on placement with Leekes, an established Welsh Home Department Store in Cross Hands, where he was given the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of working within a warehousing and distribution section.

Initially, Matthew was based in the warehouse department while he worked towards attaining his lift-truck licence. His duties included stock checking and other non-driving, retail warehouse based tasks. However, once he had successfully passed his theory and practical lift-truck test, Matthew was able to shoulder more responsible duties, such as unloading goods from delivery lorries.

Linda, the store’s HR Manager at Leekes expressed how pleased she was with Matthew’s development. “He’s a very likeable character, switched on and actively uses his initiative.” Alison, Matthew’s Line Manager, was also impressed with Matthew’s enthusiasm to learn and get ahead.

Matthew showed such promise whilst on placement, that the management team at Leekes Cross Hands decided to continue working with LRC Training to progress Matthew from the ‘Skill Build Programme’ to the ‘Young Recruits Programme’; a government funded scheme which provides financial incentive to employers to create new employment opportunities for young individuals to access high quality apprenticeship placements.

Thanks to the scheme and his continued diligence, Matthew has secured a 4 day weekly employment with Leekes at the Building Trade Counter. His duties include serving customers, loading & unloading lorries, making order checks, supplying quotes when requested and liaising with suppliers.

Matthew spoke highly of his experience on the Skill Build Scheme: “Everyone at LRC Training was very supportive of my training and since Leekes allowed me time to dedicate to completing my NVQ work, I was able to progress at a much faster rate.”

Linda expressed how pleased she was with Matthew’s attitude and said “We aim to continue to develop Matthew’s skills and provide him with the opportunity to progress a career in retail.”

Contact LRC Training on 01554 774121 or email info@llanelli-rural.gov.uk