• Contact us |
• Site Map |
• Help |
• Podcasts

• 
• Login |
• About profiles

Standards of Service in Careers Scotland Centres

Board Minutes

• Minutes of Careers Scotland Local Advisory Boards can be obtained by contacting Regional Headquarters in Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Bellshill (contact details are available via Contact us)

Complaints

• Careers Scotland Complaints procedure
• All complaints received are taken seriously and will be responded to as soon as possible and no later than five working days.
• We will let you know if we need more time to respond and we will tell you when you can expect a full response.
• Replies to your complaint will be from a Team Leader, Functional Manager or Regional Manager.
• Customers will have the option within the complaints procedure to escalate the complaint directly to the Director of Careers Scotland, 150 Broomielaw, Atlantic Quay, Glasgow G2 8LU.

Back to top

Computer Use Policy

Careers Scotland is committed to providing a comprehensive range of services to help people access education, training and job opportunities. Computers in centres are available for use by clients for free access to the internet and use of word processing but ONLY for legitimate job seeking and career planning purposes.

The Computer Use Policy has been developed to ensure that standards of acceptable use are maintained.

Acceptable Computer Use

• Clients must agree to the terms of the Computer Use Policy before access is given to a centre computer.
• Computers can be used for a maximum period of 50 minutes.
• Clients will respect the privacy of others.
• Clients will respect copyright and licensing agreements.
• Careers Scotland staff reserve the right to view computer screens and printouts at any time and decide what constitutes unacceptable use.

Unacceptable Computer Use

The following actions are not acceptable to Careers Scotland and will result in a client's access to computer facilities being withdrawn immediately.

• Using computers for any purposes other than job seeking or career planning purposes.
• Viewing of obscene, offensive or pornographic material.
• Using chatrooms or messaging software.
• Illegal activities or the viewing of illegal materials.
• Altering or attempting to alter settings on the computer or network.
• Installing software.
• Any wilful damage to the computer hardware or network.

Back to top

Consultation with external bodies/individuals

• We welcome feedback regarding customer service standards and general activities and this is achieved by:
  • day-to-day interaction with clients and customers
  •  on Careers Scotland website
  • local customer surveys including external verification
  • contact with stakeholders and key influencers
  • performance measurement, management and reporting systems
• Our  area gives comprehensive information about the strategy, activities and organisation, and is regularly updated.

Drop-in Customers

• If you do not have an appointment, you will be met by a member of staff who will deal with your enquiry
• Customers using our open services will be directed to the relevant resources by staff
• Advisory staff will be available for customers wanting help with using resources
• If discussion identifies that a personal appointment with an adviser is required, an appointment will be arranged at a convenient time within 10 working days

Back to top

Efficiency and Effectiveness

• We ensure that internal and external evaluations are undertaken to assess the effectiveness of our activities
• We employ internal auditors to continuously review our activities and internal control systems. Audit Scotland also reviews these
• Our accounts are independently audited and published each year
  

e-Guidance - Responding to Web and Email Enquiries from Clients

• We will treat your e-mail enquiry with as much care and attention as a face-to-face interactions. All enquiries will be treated as confidential.
• We will respond to your enquiry within five working days.
• Our responses are based on the information you have given and offered with your best interests in mind.We will use simple, plain English, avoiding jargon and abbreviations wherever possible.
• Where appropriate we will provide web links to signpost you to further information.
• Queries that are abusive, use unacceptable language or are clearly non-serious will be filtered out.

External Visits

• We will attend appointments at the agreed time
• Any unavoidable delays will be notified to you immediately and we will inform you of the expected time of arrival
• You will be informed immediately of any cancellation and an alternative appointment will be arranged at a mutually convenient time

Back to top

Governance

• Being government-funded, Careers Scotland adheres to the Principles of Public Life as set out by the Nolan Committee for holders of public office to observe: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openess, honesty and leadership

Incoming Calls

• All telephone calls will be answered within 10 seconds. All staff are responsible for ensuring that any call is answered within this time
• We will answer calls using the agreed Careers Scotland greeting "Good morning/afternoon. Careers Scotland. First name/last name speaking. How can I help you?"
• If the person sought is unavailable, the caller will be told when s/he is expected to return and will be offered the options of leaving a message or the help of another colleague "I'm sorry, 'named person' won't be back in the office until day/time. Would you like to leave a message or can anyone else help?"
• If the caller chooses to leave a message, details will be taken of the name, company (if appropriate), contact details and a brief message
• If the caller wishes the call to be returned, this will be done within one working day unless explained otherwise during the call
• Staff working in a centre after 5pm will answer incoming telephone calls until 5.30pm
• If you want to contact us outwith 9am - 5pm/5.30pm, you will be able to leave a message that will be responded to the following working day
• All main centres will offer an answerphone messaging facility outwith business hours
• Our messages on answer machines will be appropriate for all calls. You will be given information on when the centre is next open and the opportunity to leave a message
• At part-time centres not managed by Careers Scotland, we will provide information to our partners to allow calls to be referred to the nearest main centre

Back to top

Incoming Mail

• If a response to your correspondence is needed, we will contact you within five working days
• If we need time to prepare a response, we will contact you within five working days to let you know when you will receive a full reply
• This standard does not apply to circulars and commercial canvassing

Invoices

• We will pay all agreed and valid invoices within 30 days of receipt
• We will advise suppliers within ten days of any queries with an invoice

Back to top

Names

• Our staff will always identify themselves by first and last name
• We will wear corporate name badges when working with customers within the centre and other delivery outlets, as well as at external meetings and events

Back to top

Opening Hours

• Our main full-time centres will normally be open from 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday, except for public holidays
• Main centres may be closed up to 10.00am once a week for staff development purposes
• Our business hours will be clearly displayed at all main centres, part-time centres and other service delivery outlets
• Notification of centre closures for public holidays will be clearly displayed outside centres five working days prior to closure

Procurement

• Careers Scotland operates a policy of competitive tendering for the procurement of goods and services over £10,000
• Where we do not adopt a competitive tendering approach to contracts of over £10,000, the reasons will be fully documented on file and approved by a Director or above

Back to top

Published Materials

• Our website and printed publications will be written in clear and plain English
• Copies of all our publications will be available from the  area of this site, at  and by phone requests on our National Telephone Number 0845 8 502 502 (calls will be charged at local rates)
• You can request copies of printed publications and web pages in other languages, large print or in Braille at Careers Scotland centres and by phone on our National Telephone Number: 0845 8 502 502.

Visitors with Appointments

• We will meet with customers at the arranged appointment time
• Centre reception staff will inform customers of the anticipated length in any delay to appointment times
• Any changes to an appointment time will be notified immediately and an alternative appointment will be offered at a mutually convenient time.