“The skills that I have learned make me stand out and more employable”

As someone with a career in travel on her mind, Kerene Kipulu’s journey really got started at ACT Training.

Kerene, 20, completed a Level 1 Traineeship in Customer Service with ACT, which was an important launchpad, providing many core skills to help her toward her dream of a top job in the tourism sector.

She said: “I developed active listening, critical thinking and communication, time management, interpersonal, computer, team working, problem solving, customer service and leadership skills during my work placements and during class, amongst peers.”

Originally from Kinshana, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she followed her ACT accolade with a Travel and Tourism Level 2 and 3 qualification from Cardiff and Vale College. Her next stop is Cardiff Met University, where she’ll study International Tourism Management.

She feels that the confidence gained from her time at ACT will help her navigate all future learning – both on and off the job.

She said: “These skills are going to help me when working with a large group of people in university, it will help me with presentation and future work placements. This will enable me to showcase the skills that I picked up and learned during my time at ACT.

“It will help me blend in and at times prove that I am qualified to become a confident team leader in the future. Furthermore, it will help me to improve and adapt to new working or studying environments. I will be able to use and showcase my abilities.”

Kerene doesn’t believe that young people are made aware of the different learning options that exist after mainstream education, but wishes more could take the same route as her, so they have “hope to pursue their dreams”.

The K-pop fan found that ACT’s course gave her a greater understanding of the relationship between the employee and customer, providing insights into how this dynamic functions. She added: “I always knew that I wanted to work in a customer service-related field.”

An eager learner, Karene even gets creative in her downtime, cooking and editing online videos about pop music, which have a growing audience!

She explained: “I like to spend my free time editing videos and posting them on TikTok, which I have been able to gain an immense number of followers and viewers that enjoy my work and my field of interest, which is K-pop.

“I am very interested to learn practical and educational things on the TikTok app or YouTube, which I believe has benefited me positively in terms of understanding my health, the environment, things scientifically, and politically.”

With the pursuit of knowledge one of her clear passions, Kerene relished the chance to pick up important skills for the workplace with ACT. “The skills that I have learned will make me stand out and make me more employable,” she said.

The course with ACT was the first step on a very important personal journey and Kerene already has some dream jobs in her sights.

She said: “I plan to work in a travel and tourism related field in the future such as a travel agent, a hotel manager or holiday representative.”

If you’re inspired by Kerene’s story and would like to know more about Jobs Growth Wales+ at ACT, head over to out Jobs Growth Wales+ page or get in touch!