Colin does it by the book

Twenty seven year old graduate Colin Ferguson can be found with his head buried in a book at the University of Newcastle's  library, where he now works.  After a year of unemployment  he added to his list of qualifications at New College Durham, and finally secured his dream job.

With three A Levels and a degree in politics to his name, Colin was confident he would get a job once his university course came to an end over three years ago. Yet several months down the line and a number of knock backs later Colin realised he needed to take a fresh look at his skills.

“The sticking point seemed to be that most jobs were looking for someone with a minimum Level 2 numeracy qualification, which is equivalent to a GCSE grade C. I realised that many employers couldn’t see past my GCSE maths at grade D, so I wasn’t even getting a look in.”

To help turn his job prospects around Colin enrolled on a Skills for Life numeracy course at Level 2. Funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East, the training was delivered by New College Durham, near to Colin’s home area of Newton Hall.

“As soon I completed the course I added it to my CV and before long I had seven interviews lined up over a six week period.  One of these was for the job at Newcastle University library and since then I’ve never looked back.”