Young people have their say

City Council thanks local youngsters for recruitment help

(Date of issue: Tuesday, 19 August 2008)

Carlisle City Council has appointed two new members of staff to work with local young people, with help from two teenagers.

Seventeen year old Ayme Kennedy and eighteen year old Tom Dixon were part of a selection panel for the two newly appointed posts, which are funded by the BIG Lottery. Both volunteered to be part of the recruitment process and helped with the shortlisting and the interviews, after receiving specialist training.

Ayme and Tom were selected after responding to a City Council advert asked local young people to come forward and volunteer to sit on the interview panel. They played active roles in creating the interview questions and met the interviewees in a session prior to interview. They also asked questions during the actual interviews. Maggie Mooney, Carlisle City Council’s Town Clerk & Chief Executive, said:

"This is thought to be the first time young people have formed part of a Carlisle City Council recruitment panel. Their input was highly regarded as the new ‘face2face co-ordinators’ will be working with teenagers aged from 13 years and above and it was thought essential that local youngsters should play an active part in the appointments. The candidates said that they were impressed to see the City Council having young people on the interview panel.''

"Ayme and Tom really enjoyed the recruitment experience. They have also continued to be involved and both met up with the new staff on their first week and introduced them to other young people around the city centre and at the Skatepark. The whole process has boosted their confidence and has given them an added advantage when they apply for jobs themselves."

To thank Ayme and Tom for their efforts, the City Council’s Town Clerk & Chief Executive Maggie Mooney will present them each with a certificate in recognition for their ‘valued involvement’ today (Tuesday, 19 August) at 2pm, at the Civic Centre.