In the midst of a devastating global recession, the Realistic Skills Training Centre has managed to be a most relevant business, in terms of the services it offers to the people of Mandeville.

The small business, which is owned and operated by Mandeville resident Odette Lewis, is primarily an employment agency, but it also offers classes for GSAT students, and real estate related services.

"Well I try to get jobs for people - we place about four people in jobs per week. We find houses for people, we sell lots, we run courses in basic secretarial (skills), basic computing, we do GSAT extra lessons, we do record-keeping and sales and merchandising," Lewis shared.

placing persons

Even in the current global economic recession, Lewis said she has been placing a significant number of people into jobs on a weekly basis.

"An employment agency like ours really caters - not for people who have degrees, because those people go and get jobs with their résumés. A vast majority of people don't have qualification," Lewis said.

"We put people in supermarkets to pack shelves, become gas pump operators, cashiers, cooks, helpers, even babysitters. People are coming in here every day and registering with us," she said.

lopsided job market

The Mandeville job market, Lewis says, is quite lopsided, with the demand greatly exceeding the supply.

"People want jobs, many aren't working. The competition is stiff, because right now if I get a job for a live-in helper, I'll have three or four people coming to register for it," explained Lewis.

What is amazing about the Realistic Skills Training Centre is that the multifaceted business actually came out of a period of Lewis being unemployed and unable to find work.

"I was working at NCB (National Commercial Bank) for seven years. I couldn't get another job because everyone said I was overqualified. I was sitting at home for two years and I decided to start my own business," Lewis explained.

- A.W.