5 min read
Time for a New Beginning
Kickstarting careers with Cardiff and Vale College
- Building a new career can feel impossible without ‘the right experience’. Too often, companies miss out on those candidates with talent and drive, who just need a chance to show it. Our New Beginnings programme, a collaboration with Cardiff and Vale College, is helping us to build links with the Cardiff community while sharing valuable business skills in the community with those looking for new career opportunities.
Deloitte's Cardiff Delivery Centre (CDC) currently employs around 1,200 people.
Growing by more than 25 per cent last year – a rate that is set to continue – it is home to a wide range of support services that are vital to our firm.
And with expertise in areas as diverse as robotics, financial crime and audit, there are opportunities for a range of exciting careers.
“One of our priorities at the CDC is to create a workforce that reflects the local community” said Deloitte director Ross Flanigan “and puts our firm at the very centre of the region’s growth.”
Our New Beginnings initiative, a collaboration with Cardiff and Vale College, is one way in which we’re building business skills in the local area, with the target of equipping participants with skills and experience associated with beginning a professional or financial services career.
It’s also created a pathway into our firm for those with the ambition to join our Cardiff team.
Working hand in hand
Bringing together the knowledge and skills of our Cardiff team and Cardiff and Vale College has been essential to building a course that’s tailored to the needs of businesses as well as the local community.
A key feature of the programme is that it removes a number of barriers to education, providing financial assistance with travel and childcare costs, support with additional learning needs, the provision of lunches and the loan of laptops.
“We’ve worked hand in hand on the detail and implementation of the course” said Martin Condy, senior manager for employer partnerships at Cardiff and Vale College.
“Not only does the programme provide opportunities for employment at Deloitte, it also provides training, knowledge and experience that is beneficial to individuals who may not have considered a career in this sector or who have experienced barriers before.”
Funded by our firm, with a contribution from the Welsh Government, New Beginnings focuses on developing technical and soft skills to give participants the knowledge, confidence and skills many employers are looking for.
Participants also have the opportunity to achieve qualifications including City & Guilds awards and Microsoft Office certifications.
Lewis Sweeney, an Audit & Assurance project support associate based in Cardiff, took part in New Beginnings after hearing about it through a friend.
“Before this I was working in Tesco in stock control and got made redundant, which is why I applied for the course.”
“What was offered really suited what I was looking to go into – my new career path. I’m interested in establishing my own business in the long term and knew I’d benefit from exposure to, and experience of, accounting and audit.”
“The interview skills training was what attracted me the most. I always felt I was ok at doing job applications - but the interview skills were really beneficial and helped me to feel like, when I had an interview, I would be able to make the most of it.”
“Learning more about Microsoft Office and getting the qualification was also useful. I’d already used it, but still learned a lot from the course, especially the certificate in Outlook which I use all the time now, even outside of work.”
“This programme has been valuable because it’s got me a job – it couldn’t be any more valuable than that! In my role now I do things like budget monitoring, invoices, making sure we stick to schedules, admin and project management.”
“While I am at Deloitte I’d like to gain more experience and more responsibility. It’s about pushing and challenging myself as much as I can.”
Removing barriers
In line with our ambition to make a difference to the employability prospects of up to 100 people in the region, 59 people so far have completed their training, with further trainees ready to begin in the autumn.
To enable the course to continue throughout the pandemic, Cardiff and Vale College have offered virtual sessions in small groups and on a one-to-one basis, and are further developing the programme to blend remote and face-to-face training.
Increasing confidence
Past delegates have commented that the programme has increased their confidence, enabled them to learn more than they expected and been valuable for their future employment prospects.
The success of the initiative so far has led to it gaining wider interest among Cardiff-based businesses that would like to emulate it.
“I’ve often commented that this programme really is making a difference, raising aspirations for individuals and their families” Martin continued.
“With the current challenges facing individuals looking to upskill or move into a more rewarding career, the New Beginnings programme has become more relevant than ever.”
“We are, as ever, proud to be working with Deloitte on such an inspirational programme that encourages aspiration and offers a real opportunity for the communities we work within.”
New Beginnings is one of the many social impact programmes run by Deloitte UK as part of our goal to impact One Million Futures.
In 2020 we achieved this ambition and now aim to help an additional 5 Million Futures across North and South Europe by 2030.
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