“With growing recognition of the initiative, more and more employers are specifying ACE validation of their workforce,” explains Dug Harrison, ECITB Regional Account Manager, “but a crucial part of ACE is the on-site assessment which can only be done when the candidate is employed.”

As part of a pilot initiative, four unemployed people were registered onto the ACE programme enabling them to complete the knowledge part of the assessment. This enabled them to approach employers from a more positive position.

Dennis Marlow is one of the craftsmen on the pilot. Dennis had been out of work for six months since fi nishing a job in Inverness, he explains: “having fi nished work in Inverness I was fi nding it hard to get a new job.”

Completing the fi rst step meant Dennis was able to get work with Doosan Babcock at Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station and has now completed his on-site assessment and will be receiving his ACE card shortly. He would recommend everyone take the opportunity to validate existing skills to prove their competence, “without a doubt being registered on the initiative meant that I was in a much better position to get back into work.”

• ACE New Nov 09