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Computeach students to make an impression on Comet

With the country still in recession, it is reassuring that IT skills still appear to be in high demand.

High street electrical store Comet has enlisted the help of Computeach students to help fill some of its vacancies, illustrating that expertise in the sector are highly valued.

The IT training provider has been awarded sole supplier status by the chain, which means students are able to put their skills into practice by helping fill 62 positions.

This arrangement may provide mutual benefit to both parties, as Comet takes on trained workers in the IT sector and Computeach gives its pupils hands-on experience.

Comet will use the students to help build upon its image of providing sound and effective customer service.

With 250 stores across the country, the company offers a range of electrical products to consumers, with its prices checked on a weekly basis to ensure the retailer remains ahead of the competition.

Comet also has a strong online presence to offer customers a quick and easy way to interact with it and locate the items they need.

Still, whether operating on the high street or online, customer service is still an integral part of Comet's business - which is where Computeach students will lend a hand.

Managing director of the IT training company Karl Parkinson revealed that the recruits will be mainly involved with providing hardware and software troubleshooting solutions to Comet's customers.

"They will have studied towards two main certifications - Computing Technology Industry Association A+ (CompTIA) and the Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST)," he said.

The former qualification gives people the chance to become competent in installation, networking, preventative maintenance and, more importantly for this role, troubleshooting.

Meanwhile, the MCDST qualification aims to provide people with the skills set they need to be a customer support representative, help desk technician, computer support specialist, technical support specialist and technical support representative.

Furthermore, the certifications in question have been designed in such a way that students will be able to use them across a range of platforms.

"The CompTIA certification is vendor neutral i.e. is not tied to a particular hardware platform, thereby allowing the individual to maximise their employment prospects. The MCDST principally covers the Windows XP operating system," Mr Parkinson noted.

With these two solid qualifications in place, the Computeach students will be stepping into Comet with the base they need on which to build their confidence further.

Every candidate who fills Comet's vacancies will also have undertaken a Help Desk Institute module to give them an additional qualification when applying for IT jobs.

This gives Computeach candidates the service skills they will require when interacting with people in a help desk scenario.

Still, with all these qualifications in place, what will the recruits have to do in order to be successful at their job?

"Successful candidates will be tasked with resolving these queries in the shortest possible time in order to maximise client satisfaction," Mr Parkinson explained.

Interviews for the places will be ongoing, with the electrical retailer hoping to fill them over the next couple of months.

Computeach has made quite an impression on the company already, with services implementation manager Suzi Keenan identifying that the candidates' "skills set match is ideal" and that Comet is "overall, very impressed".

Scores of people benefit from the services which Computeach offers every year, with candidates even provided with opportunities for employment.

Throughout the course of 2010, there is likely to be high demand for helpdesk staff, Mr Parkinson suggested, with the company already receiving its highest number of vacancies for two years.

With the new year already underway, who knows what the coming months will hold for Computeach candidates.

As has been seen already, demand for skills is definitely on the up, with Comet perhaps the first of many organisations to benefit from the expertise gained by taking IT qualifications.