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2nd March 2001
EIGHT NEW TRAINEE TECHNICIANS POSTS CREATED IN BARNSLEY
Long-term unemployed have the chance to work in a high-tech industry
Eight more unemployed people from the Barnsley area will have the opportunity to apply for trainee technician posts this week courtesy of Barnsley Fastrack to Information Technology (BFIT) - a pioneering partnership between Barnsley Development Agency's Community Economic Regeneration Team (CERT), and Sheffield University.
The project is aimed at re-skilling members of Barnsley's long-term unemployed workforce for the demands of modern Information Technology posts in local high-tech companies, and the re-training could lead to employment in the high-tech sector. This is an area that was identified jointly by CERT, Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies (DIS) and local community groups back in 1999 as being a key skills gap locally in the Barnsley economy.
Ann Vallance, case worker for BDA's CERT Team, said: "BFIT has already been incredibly successful, with four trainee technicians having already joined the two year pilot scheme and reaping the benefits. We're now looking for eight more people who would value a real opportunity to re-train, potentially for technical jobs in the IT sector in and around Barnsley.
"It's important to point out that this is technical training that could lead to jobs of quite a high technical level in the future, not simply low paid admin jobs. It's the type of training high-tech employers are telling us they desperately need, and in partnership with Sheffield University we're now providing it to give people in Barnsley a real chance of competing for these types of position in the future."
Alison Evans, a 38 year-old mum of three from Stairfoot, Barnsley, joined the BFIT initiative when it was first made available last year. "Thanks to CERT and Sheffield University, I now have a much better chance of embarking on an interesting and worthwhile career, which I didn't previously think possible. I would eventually like to study for a degree and develop a career in one of the technical fields within computing", Alison commented.
She added: "I particularly wanted to be part of the BFIT project as I thought it would be an excellent way not only to return to work, but to start a new career in the IT field. I felt it offered an outstanding opportunity - especially as I'm a mature returner to the workplace - and I've not regretted it one bit."
As part of the two year pilot, BFIT places individuals in a variety of University IT-related departments and with other industrial partners, for a series of three month periods. The placements are supervised by current departmental and industrial technical staff, and enable programme members to develop professional and technical skills required in many of today's working environments.
Alison concludes: "My first three months in the University were spent in the Department of Information Studies, where I worked under the guidance of Paul Fenn, a technician. I have to say that I enjoyed every minute that I was there, finding the training invaluable and thoroughly enjoyable. I am now spending a further three months in Computing Services, dealing with the network maintenance side of IT."
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