If you want to enter the wonderful world of call and contact centres, think of s1jobs as the front door. Every day you can find vacancies in all sorts of sectors. Experience is handy, but not always essential because many employers have active training programmes where they give new recruits the skills to do the job.
These opportunities don’t exist only in the Central Belt or in urban locations but are popping up in rural areas too.
One of the newest training academies was launched recently by independent power company, Spark Energy, and the first 20 recruits have just graduated.
All 20 new account managers live within a 10-mile radius of Spark Energy’s headquarters in Selkirk and now that they know the ropes they will form part of the company’s expanding customer services department.
The Academy is Spark’s solution to plugging a skills-gap in the Scottish Borders and, as well as bringing new recruits up to speed, it will also provide training and development for employees who already have a bit of experience under their belts.
On-going training is a positive feature of many call and contact centres.
This helps to keep staff performing at a high level and it allows new ways of working to be rolled out fast.
And this is a sector where you have to stay on your toes because nothing changes faster than customer expectations and it takes constant vigilance to stay one step ahead.
At Sparks, 15 coaches have completed an ICS-accredited qualification and a further 15 will also complete the course later this year. There are 27 employees currently working towards their Communications & Solutions qualifications and 150 employees have attended First Impressions and Service Management courses.
John Hawkins, Spark Energy’s Director of People and Culture, says: “Recruiting and upskilling people is a core element of our business, which wouldn’t exist if we didn’t provide excellent customer service.
“As part of this we’re also fully committed to the Borders and are extremely proud to create jobs which support young people while increasing economic growth in the region. The company is an excellent place to work, with many avenues for progression, attractive perks and a rewarding benefits package.”
So there you have it. Even if you live in a rural part of the country the call service training and career you’ve been looking for could actually be right on your doorstep.
Why not step through that door and take a closer look at the best Call & Contact Centre vacancies on s1jobs?