Free Recruitment Service Helped Us

Following the launch of Apprenticeship Vacancies many employers across the region are reaping the benefits of using the free online service.

Following the launch of Apprenticeship Vacancies, the Government funded initiative from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) in May 2009, many employers across the region are reaping the benefits of using the free online service to recruit Apprentices.

One of the first organisations that used the service facilitated by Total People was Newcastle based manufacturing company Q-Railing. They were keen to attract enthusiastic and motivated applicants for an Office Junior position together with offering the successful candidate an Apprenticeship in Business and Administration.

Sales Manager Martyn Eveleigh identified that the company wanted to continue with their ethos of recruiting youngsters and providing them with an opportunity to start their career with Q-Railing.

“We initially heard about the service through Damian Burdin who is currently supporting one of our members of staff with her Customer Service Apprenticeship. He informed us that we could advertise our vacancy through the Apprenticeships website and it would not cost us anything. We had every confidence in Total People to deliver the training as we currently use them for various Apprenticeship programmes so it was ideal,” explains Martyn.

I think it’s a really good service for businesses to use, particularly if they want a training programme to run alongside their employee’s role and we firmly believe training staff significantly contributes to the success of the business.

Having advertised the position for a month, Q-Railing received a high standard of applicants and after interviewing 10 candidates, they chose to recruit Stephanie Dix, 17, from Newcastle.

“Obviously I was delighted,” explains Stephanie. “After finishing my GCSE’s I went on to study for my A-levels but did not enjoy my first year so decided to look for an Apprenticeship in Business and Administration. I found the position on the website, applied and was successful.”

Mr Eveleigh says they did consider using other forms of advertising but felt the Apprenticeships website would be ideal to attract candidates who were looking to take their first step on the career path.

Q-Railing are now using the service again in their recruitment for a Warehouse Operative.