A project managed by the Chamber, is successfully bringing together some of the region’s young people, who are currently considering their future career options, with employers from across the Scottish Borders.
Working with Scottish Borders Council’s employability team, the Try Before You Apply project sees the Chamber source and secure job taster sessions where a young person spends at least half a day in a workplace. The project is funded by the Scottish Government’s Initiative The Young Person’s Guarantee.
A group of young people aged between 16-19 years old recently spent time learning about the various roles and opportunities with Tesco in Galashiels. Tesco Manager, David McMunn said: “As we approach the festive period, we are always looking for seasonal colleagues to join the team. For some, this can be the start of a very fulfilling career with Tesco. Working with the young people to help build their confidence to take that first step is important to our staff development, and we enjoyed hosting the young people at our store.”
Young people have already benefited from taster sessions with engineers, retailers, and leisure providers, with sector-specific experience enhanced by the development of softer skills such as confidence building and team working.
Lukas Rasiulis (19) commented: “I was surprised how many career opportunities there are with Tesco and found it interesting hearing about how a business like this operates. You don’t always think of these things when you are in the store as a shopper.”
Our chief executive, Emily McGowan said: “Feedback from our members, and the wider business community, confirms there is a real challenge with recruiting staff. We see our role as doing all we can to support our members with their business success, so by bringing young people in for job tasters, we hope business owners will identify a pool of talent. We’re delighted to hear that four of the young people who joined us on the visit to Tesco subsequently applied for seasonal work with the company”
The project will run into 2022 and any business who is interested in being involved can find out more by emailing Emily at emily@borderschamber.com