Pictured: (l-r) Adam Freeth (Iceland Foods Store
Manager). Jayne Hanson (PPDG Employer Liaison Co-ordinator), Craig
Nicholls (recently employed Iceland Foods Retail Assistant),
Stephanie Elton (PPDG Employment Coach).
A 41-year old Walsall man who felt he had been "frozen out" of
the jobs market for the past two-years is celebrating after landing
a job with the retailer Iceland Foods.
Craig Nicholls was helped into the position within six weeks
through Walsall based employment and training specialists Pertemps
People Development Group.
Employer Liaison Co-ordinator for the area Jayne Hanson said her
client had been able to access support through Flexible Routeways,
a European Social Fund initiative co-financed by the Department for
work and Pensions which enables unemployed job seekers to find a
return to the workplace.
A beaming Craig from Bloxwich said, "It's been a difficult time
but as soon as I started to get the help I needed I suddenly felt I
was on the right track. Being out of work is soul destroying and a
particularly negative experience that was until I met up with Steph
my employment coach who has been so inspirational.
"She worked on my interview skills, updated my CV and gave me
some real direction to help me identify local job opportunities.
Jayne then spotted a retail assistant position with Iceland and I
was put forward with five other applicants.
"Getting down to the last three was a big step but getting a
call on the Friday to say I'd got the job was the best feeling in
the world."
Walsall store manager Adam Freeth commended the high quality of
candidates submitted for interview.
"This is the first time we have engaged with this type of
recruitment process and it went smoothly resulting in us seeing
some fairly high calibre applicants. I'll certainly be calling the
team again when future vacancies arise."