Vicky's Job Joy for the New year

NEW year job joy has already come for a young woman battling unemployment as more than 100 jobs have been created at a Wirral shopping centre for the busy festive period.

Vicky Harris has so impressed bosses at TJ Hughes in Pyramids Shopping Centre, Birkenhead, that her Christmas temp job has already become a permanent fixture ending a 2 year period of demoralising unemployment.

Vicky, 30, who lives with her partner Andrew in Birkenhead, was thrilled when she was selected to take one of 15 seasonal positions at the busy Pyramids discount department store to cope with festive demands.

She was made redundant from her job in retail in July 2013 and has since then worked hard to find a new job, refusing to let the repeated cycle of rejection beat her and filling her time volunteering at a hostel which helps women and their families escape domestic violence. But she was offered a lifeline when she gained her temporary seasonal job at TJ Hughes which swiftly become much more than she had hoped.

Vicky said:- "About a week into starting my Christmas temp job with TJ Hughes, one of the managers approached me and said:- "that a permanent vacancy had become available and would I be interested." I felt completely ecstatic and relieved. They told me they had been really impressed with my work and and after all these months of applying for jobs and not even getting an interview, this couldn't be better news for me. Being unemployed for so long and not being able to show people what I can do is soul destroying. You get stuck in this system of endlessly applying for jobs, never getting a chance to prove yourself and people just see you as a CV, a piece of paper, and not as an actual person. I'm a bubbly person who enjoys working with and helping people and I do have a lot to give and I know I have skills but I can't always show all that simply from a CV and covering letter and it can be so frustrating. You get into this cycle of cooking, cleaning, running the house and doing the shopping, just to keep you motivated but you are not earning and you are not getting the satisfaction of doing a day's work and the challenges this can set you. That's why I got stuck into the voluntary work which I really enjoyed. Getting this permanent job at TJ Hughes is absolutely brilliant and it's hard to put into words what it means to me. It's given me back some self confidence. I have always seen retail as a career for me and while I have a long way to go, my aim is to become a floor manager at TJ Hughes and for the first time in a long time, I have my sights set on something much higher."

Vicky is 1 of more than 100 people who have been given a Christmas temp job by stores at Pyramids Shopping Centre which collectively employs more than 1,200 people.

TJ Hughes is one of the big name stores always looking to take on extra staff over the busy festive period such as M&S which has recruited almost 30 extra people, River Island who have 20 Christmas temps and Argos who have 19.

Derek Millar, Commercial Director for Pyramids Shopping Centre, said:- "We are enjoying a busy festive period at Pyramids Shopping Centre so our stores need an expanded workforce to cope with demand. We are delighted to hear news of well deserving and hard working people, like Vicky who have been able to prove their skills via their temp job and it is great to hear of the permanent opportunity that has already opened up for her."

Richard Hodgson, TJ Hughes Store Manager, said:- "Vicky proved herself to us very quickly and more than one of my staff commented to me about how impressed they had been with her work ethic and her warmth with the customers. When she finished one job, she didn't wait to be told what to do next, she was always looking for the next job to do and in our industry and at this very busy time, this does not go unnoticed. Retail is very demanding and we need people who are flexible, dedicated and can go that extra mile to help our customers, even at the end of a long day when there is still stock to put out and tidying up to do before the next day of trading. We can't promise that every temp job will lead to permanent employment. but it does give us the chance to see for ourselves how people work and how they fit into the team and with people like Vicky, it can lead very quickly to much better opportunities which are a pleasure for us to give."

For more information about Pyramids Shopping Centre go to their website or go onto the Centre's Facebook Page or Twitter account:- @PyramidsSC to find out more.