L to R Michael Moloney, from North Belfast and Stephen Hillis from Ingeus mark a major milestone for Firstsource Solutions. Michael is the 100th employee to be recruited through the Steps 2 Success programme, which is designed to help jobseekers build the skills and experience needed to find and keep a job.
A unique jobs partnership between one of Northern Ireland’s leading businesses and employment and skills specialists Ingeus has just marked a major milestone in Belfast.
Outsourced contact centre provider Firstsource, which is one of Northern Ireland’s largest private sector employers, has now recruited its 100th employee from the Department for Employment and Learning’s Steps 2 Success adult employment programme, delivered in Belfast by Ingeus.
Firstsource specialises in product solutions and managed services for major UK companies in the telecommunications, media and financial services sectors. Steps 2 Success is designed to help jobseekers build the skills and experience needed to find and keep a job. The programme addresses each participant’s specific needs and challenges whilst helping them build skills and valuable experience as they progress into work.
The 100th successful participant now employed by Firstsource is Michael Moloney, 20, from North Belfast. Michael was unemployed for almost a year, having previously been made redundant from his job in a local factory. Prior to that, he worked in a customer services role for a Belfast leisure centre and so had a taster of the skills required by Firstsource.
“I’m not a lazy person, and so being without a job was very frustrating,” he said. “I began to lose all structure to my days and was desperate to find something that would give me a reason to get out of bed each morning.”
Michael was referred to Ingeus for specialist employment support and he signed up to the Steps 2 Success programme. Straightaway, he was offered a place on Ingeus’s week-long music production course where he was encouraged to make the link between the skills required to make music and those needed to get a job, such as discipline, team work, time management, communications and planning.
“The course was a great experience, and it really spurred me on to get back into work,” he added. “Ingeus helped me understand how my skills and experiences were transferrable into other jobs. They encouraged me to refresh my CV, learn new interview techniques and look for jobs outside of the narrow band I had limited myself to previously.”
Working for Firstsource was one of the options Michael considered, and he was interviewed for a job as a customer services advisor to help banking customers with their everyday needs. He was delighted to learn that he had been successful, and has just recently started applying the skills that he gained at Ingeus within his new role at Firstsource.
“It’s early days, but it’s really great just to have a job,” he said. “I’m learning new things every day, and enjoy working with the team here. Not only have I got some financial stability, but I’m also making new friends and enjoying a social life once again. But more than that, I can look to the future with optimism.”
Laura Hourican from Firstsource UK said, “We have been working closely with Ingeus through their Steps 2 Success programme, which aims to give opportunities to long-term unemployed people. Steps 2 Success enables us to offer jobseekers an insight into the contact centre industry and employ those who are suitable for our jobs. Thanks to Ingeus we have now recruited 100 people who have come through the programme. Ingeus understands our needs as a business and have provided suitable candidates who are now an important part of the Firstsource team.”
Stephen Hillis from Ingeus added, “Our work with Firstsource is a great example of how we can support employers in Belfast by understanding their needs. This allows us to provide good candidates who have the right abilities, experience and commitment to fill their jobs.
“As well as helping Michael, the Steps 2 Success programme is supporting a wide range of local businesses as they expand and, as a result, is providing a boost to the Northern Ireland economy.”
