The Pension Service (2)
Clive is an apprentice at The Pension Service in Newcastle, providing customer service to pensioners who live abroad.
Clive, 44, is undertaking an Apprenticeship in Customer Service at Level 2, which will take him up to 18 months to complete with formal learning and work‑based training.
“I wanted to improve myself and learn more about customer service so I could apply for other jobs within the Pension Service.”
As part of the on‑the‑job training for his Apprenticeship, Clive has been involved in capacity planning for the International Pension Centre as well as quality monitoring of service provided to customers, analysis of call centre statistics and dealing with customer queries.
Prior to his Apprenticeship, Clive worked in the maintenance team for pensions. But he wanted to gain a qualification and move ahead with his career.
“The Apprenticeship has taught me a lot about myself. I was so uncomfortable with speaking in front of a group before but I’ve learnt to overcome this and develop skills for public speaking. I’ve learnt a lot about myself, especially interpersonal and presentation skills.”
New Skills
The Apprenticeship allows Clive to consolidate his existing customer service skills as well as develop new ones. He has worked hard to develop his maths skills in the application of number unit. He’s also moderated a live forum and now feels comfortable speaking to and leading groups of people.
“It’s been very worthwhile and I’d fully recommend it to anyone. It’s hard work but you get a lot of satisfaction and learn so much.”
Last Updated: 23/05/2012