Talent RISE is passionate about changing the lives of young people who have experienced barriers to employment. To do this, we provide education, training, life skills and employment opportunities to help young people RISE UP to their full potential and to gain independence and purpose. 

One of the young people we have had recently helped to secure employment is Lucy Bentley. With our support, Lucy managed to gain meaningful employment with Talent International, via the Government’s Kickstart Scheme.

The most powerful opportunity employers have is to embrace the potential of young people. To get an employers perspective, we spoke to Sally Barker, Sally is an Account Director at Talent, a global digital staffing agency, guiding Lucy through her new role and supporting her journey as a young starter. 

Q- From an employers perspective what made you want to get involved with RISE?

Sally- I think it’s really important to give young people a chance, in sales, it’s not about your experience it’s about your attitude. You can give people experience but if they don’t have that core desire or ambition, they will never be able to succeed.

Q- What about RISE makes it easier to find and connect the right young people?

S- There are so many young people out there that need to be given a chance, if you go out there on your own it’s so hard to know where to start. Talent RISE is so supportive to employers and employees because they understand where people fit and they speak to individuals to find their skillsets and personalities and see exactly where they fit. 

Q- What is it about Lucy? What made her the right fit?

S- Anyone who turns up to an interview in a bright pink coat with bright pink hair and the confidence to pull that off will have the confidence to pick up the phone and not be held back by anything. In her interview, Lucy’s tenacity and the fact she had worked throughout the pandemic convinced me of her hard-working attitude. She has only been held back by some difficult times through no fault of her own. Her personality really came through and we knew within five minutes that she would be a perfect fit for the team.

Q- What impact has Lucy had on the office culture?

S- Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her big smile and personality have impacted everyone. So every single person in the team wants to see her succeed because helping her to learn directly helps our team. She’s a key part of the team social culture too by trying to get us out whenever possible!

Q- What does the future hold for Lucy?

S- Within three weeks, she has exceeded expectations by succeeding in this delivery role three months ahead of when we expected. Every challenge she has thrown back at us and wanted more, picked everything up really early and has gone above and beyond every role, she has done so far. She will fit comfortably into a delivery role by January but has the ambition to do whatever she feels she wants to do going forward into the future. Where she can go is up to her! 

We are engaging employers who share our belief system and want to embrace the potential of young people. You can do this by offering work experience or an entry-level job opportunity to a young person who just needs a chance to RISE UP to their full potential. 

For more information about this, get in touch on www.talentrise.org /placements and to see what Lucy had to say from an employee perspective click this link to go to her Q&A