P E T-X i C A S E S T U DY Northampton local and single mum Elisha Goulbourne, aged 32, had left her previous job at a social housing company after struggling to balance the high demands of the job with looking after her four children on her own. Elisha’s confidence in her abilities took a knock after leaving her p revious job, and she felt taking a refresher course in customer service skills would serve her well. Her work coach referred her to PET-Xi, who offered Elisha a course in Level 2 Customer Service.
Support provided by PET-Xi Elisha began the course in October 2020 through PET-Xi’s virtual learning environment, which was developed just before the pandemic hit. Staff at PET-Xi helped refresh Elisha’s knowledge by using a variety of techniques to teach her, such as one-to-one support, online classes with multiple learners, and easy-to-understand workbooks which h ighlight scenarios that can come up in a customer service role. Elisha threw herself into the 4-day course, regularly contributing to discussions with ideas and answers. PET-Xi trainer Adam Ashley, who worked with Elisha on the course, said: “It was clear from the start that Elisha was a great learner – the only thing she lacked was confidence. “Her self-belief grew massively throughout the course, which was brilliant to see as she clearly had great skills in customer service. “Once she passed, I felt it wouldn’t be long until she found herself another job. Anyone hiring for a customer service role would be delighted to have Elisha work for them.”
Outcomes Once Elisha had completed the course, she was able to find a job with another housing association in December 2020.
Adam Ashley
Elisha is now much happier as her new employers have been much more flexible when it comes to Elisha being able to look after her children.
LEVEL 2
CUSTOMER SERVICE
“Initially, I was unsure about applying for a similar job to my old one, but once I passed my course I didn’t have any worries. “I was really happy with the course at PET-Xi. When I left my previous job, I felt like I might not have been that good at it, so I needed something to boost my confidence a bit. “PET-Xi’s highly positive feedback once I finished the course reassured me that I am good at what I do, and gave me the confidence to hold my head up high. “The virtual learning environment I used was really useful for me too – I’m dyslexic, so that style of learning where the whole class can contribute ideas verbally instead of me having to read long documents all the time was really useful. “In the end, I was headhunted by the housing association I’m at now, and I’m really enjoying my work. I can’t thank PET-XI enough for the help they’ve given me.” Elisha Goulbourne Together we work as one Elisha’s course was part of the People Plus programme, funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and provided by PET-Xi. The programme was developed to help those aged 16 and over not currently in education, employment or training - or at risk of becoming so.
If you would like to do the same course as Elisha we would love to hear from you! To sign up call Ruth Edwards on: 07387 412 952 or email: redwards@pet-xi.co.uk