My name is Richard, I’m 19 years old and I’ve been working at Call Britannia for more than a year.

After sixth-form college, I’d had enough of education. I wanted to get out into the world and find myself a job – something that would challenge me and give me a good start in working life.

It wasn’t that easy to find opportunities though. I’d look through the local papers and online at every website going.

I can remember, on one occasion, sifting through 480 vacancies on the Guardian’s jobs site and realising there was not one I could go for because I didn’t have the relevant experience or qualifications.

It was a Catch-22 situation: I needed a job to give me experience, but no one would offer me a job without my demonstrating I had experience first. It was a tough time.

After six months of unemployment, the job centre called me in for some basic literacy, numeracy and verbal reasoning tests for customer service roles.

They then put me in touch with a third party who did a remote telephone interview with me. Having passed that, I was asked to go for an interview with Call Britannia and got the job pretty much straight away.

It was a good opportunity for me. I never really saw myself as being someone who could speak to people on the phone for a living. I never even felt particularly comfortable using the phone in my personal life; I always sent text messages.

But getting the job here made me realise that I’m actually pretty good when it comes to communication. It’s helped me both professionally and personally on that front. And then there are the other skills I’ve learnt: things like leadership, which has come from mentoring new starters, empathy and patience.

I feel really positive about the future now. It’s so much easier to find a job when you’re in a job – and better still when you’ve got a year’s worth of relevant experience under your belt.

Ideally, I’d like my next move to be within the field of customer service. I’ve got so many transferable skills now that I can take to other jobs in areas such as retail or hospitality.

In all honesty, though, I wouldn’t mind sticking with call centres and moving up the ladder in this line of work.

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Call Britannia helps people make the break in to working life.