A multi-million pound programme - including £1mn in direct funding from OP ...

A multi-million pound programme - including £1mn in direct funding from OPITO and the Offshore Training Foundation - to address immediate skills shortages in the oil and gas industry has been launched in Aberdeen. The OPITO Accelerate programme is an innovative mix of products and services, which highlights jobs available in the oil and gas industry today and paves direct routes into employment. Seven programmes will be developed under the Accelerate brand - three are already up and running, with a further four to follow later this summer. The programmes include Accelerate ‘Oilandgas4u’ - a dedicated website (www.oilandgas4u.com) which gives information about current oil and gas activities and the career opportunities these bring, highlighting specific areas where jobs are available. Users can take a taster test to see how their skills and experience match up and will be directed straight to companies who are recruiting. Accelerate ‘Check In’ is the next stage. It is a computer-based skills screening tool used by employers to evaluate potential and current employees against industry job profiles. Companies can also invite candidates to take the supervised computer-based test at their nearest approved assessment centre and will provide objective and timely feedback on their employment prospects at little cost to either party. The Accelerate ‘New Start - Rigging’ training programme aims to increase the number of qualified riggers for jobs offshore. It is open to everyone, irrespective of previous experience. Thirty-eight trainees have been recruited onto the first batch of training courses. After six weeks’ intensive training onshore, the new entrants will then move to the workplace to continue their development. OPITO plans to run a series of training courses throughout 2006 and 2007.