A BACK-to-work pilot programme to help the unemployed take the first steps on the career ladder has been launched on Tyneside.

Created specifically for a recruitment drive by Northern Rock, the training is aimed to ensure unemployed people on South Tyneside have the best opportunity of work at the company's operations at Doxford Park,Sunderland, and Gosforth, on Tyneside.

The three-week programme, developed by the training arm of Hebburn-based Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI), helped to bring successful candidates up to speed with the skills required to work at Northern Rock.

The scheme was funded by South Tyneside's economic development team's flexible training fund, which is backed financially by the Government's SRB scheme.

Following its success, the economic development team, is already planning to expand the project on a long-term basis.

As part of the project Northern Rock guaranteed each candidate who successfully completed the training an interview.

Jenna Taylor, recruitment development manager for Northern Rock, said: "The idea behind the programme is to help people who would not normally have the relevant skills to get through to a first stage interview.

"The training programme helps candidates build confidence and allows an opportunity to develop and demonstrate a range of job related skills without the usual barriers of pre-selecting candidates by CV or application forms."

Out of nine successful candidates, two have already secured employment, and one will be joining the company on placement.

The other six are now registered on the company database and are waiting for suitable vacancies to arise.

Jim Harper, lead member for regeneration at South Tyneside Council, said: "The great thing about this particular programme is it guaranteed an interview for actual job vacancies.

"Being chosen for an interview is often the stumbling block for a lot of unemployed people, so it is important that the partner organisations in South Tyneside continue to work together to overcome this barrier to employment.