A MAJOR jobs push was organised by job centre staff in Swindon on Tuesday to help its benefit claimants back into work with the help of a town centre jobs fair.

Twenty employers pitched up at Jobcentre Plus in Princes Street with the promise of job opportunities for those looking for work in the Swindon area.

Jobcentre manager Julie Marshall was the brains behind the operation, which focused on bringing in those employers with the kind of opportunities which apply to the mass market.

Among those who took up the opportunity to meet with prospective employees face-to-face were Dyson, McDonald’s, Swindon Designer Outlet, Mainline Recruitment, TK Maxx and Premier Inn.

Anyone looking for work had the opportunity to find out what was on offer and speak to prospective employers all under one roof.

A special addition for Julie was Robin’s Farm, a new restaurant venture in North Swindon from Greene King, which is set to open in February or March next year and will be looking to recruit around 70 people.

“We have a lot of customers and our register is reducing quite nicely, but we wanted to push to get the rest of the registered into work,” said Julie.

“We wanted the kind of work which would provide a good cross-section of the customers a realistic chance of work.”

Alongside the 20 employers at the fair, which also included British Army recruiters, was Swindon College.

Representatives from the institution were on hand to offer any advice and check through skills for anyone applying for jobs at the fair. If a jobseeker was keen on a position, but unsure of their suitability, the college was able to step in with advice.

By the end of proceedings, 723 job hunters had come through the doors and actively sought out work at the fair.

“The employers said it was a great day, brilliant and wonderful. They even asked when we were having the next one,” said Julie.

“They were also very impressed by the quality of the customers who came through the door.”

And she added: “The customers said how good it was to see employers face-to-face rather than having to keep applying online. They really liked the one-to-one contact.”

While Julie and her team recover from the stress of organising the latest jobs fair, she has already earmarked another for the New Year.