Middlesbrough intern banks top job

19/11/2010

A hard-working student from Brotton, East Cleveland has landed a new career in banking, thanks to a short work placement with a local business.

Rebecca Stone, a former Business Studies student at Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough, is now enjoying her role as customer service officer at Yorkshire Bank in Eston.

At college, Rebecca was aware of the stiff competition in the current job market and with recent figures revealing that 25.6 per cent of people of working age in Middlesbrough are claiming benefits, Rebecca knew she needed to be one step ahead to secure the sort of role she was looking for. Rebecca said: "I knew that in order to set myself apart from the crowd I needed to gain valuable, real-life work experience in a proper working environment, which is why I enrolled on a vocational course."

Conscientious student Rebecca signed up to the Career Academies UK programme, which offers its students the chance to study a range of topics such as business, finance and law over the two years of sixth form study. A key part of the programme is a work placement with one of Career Academies UK's 900 partner organisations, including Yorkshire Bank. Volunteers from these local businesses also share their expertise with students through lectures, workshops, visits and career mentoring.

Yorkshire Bank, a key supporter of the project, offered Rebecca the chance to complete her six-week placement at her local branch. Steve Fletcher head of retail from Yorkshire Bank said: "We are always looking for ways to help in the communities in which we operate, and UK Careers Academy is a perfect way for us to share our expertise with young individuals with big potential and a passion for business. Rebecca worked for us for six weeks and excelled at many tasks we expect of our regular staff. We really appreciated her work throughout her placement and we now see her as a valuable member of our team."

18-year-old Rebecca is delighted to have the opportunity to work full time for Yorkshire Bank. She continued: "I feel so lucky to have been offered this job; I worked hard for my placement but never imagined it could lead to a job at the end of it all, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to complete my placement there and look forward to building my career."