University isn’t everything, explains our guest columnist Athina. Give apprentices a chance and they’ll reward you with up-to-date skills and experience.
University isn’t everything, explains our guest columnist. Give apprentices a chance and they’ll reward you with up-to-date skills and experience
It all started when I was three years old, and my grandad bought me my first computer. Those were the days before we had internet and the floppy disk was the only way of loading my favourite programs. I was fascinated by anything computerrelated and could often be found dismantling and rebuilding them on his dining room table. Miraculously, we always managed to find the right parts to put back together again.
In secondary school I studied ICT, but was told I wasn’t allowed to do computing at A Level because it wasn’t a subject for girls. This made me move away from my love of computers towards the sciences, as I felt it was more of a girly subject. I stopped fixing computers myself and relied on others to do it for me.
At 18, I started a management degre e a t the University of Lincoln, but the course wasn’t for me and nor was living with people who left their dirty pans all over the kitchen. I dropped out three days into freshers’ week, supposedly the best time in university life. Although I was only there for such a short period, I made friends who I’m still in touch with.
I moved back home and wondered what to do next. Every job I applied for required experience, but I needed a job to get the experience. Initially I was accepted onto an apprenticeship by one of the major technology companies, but the wage on offer didn’t cover the rent in the area I was meant to work. Eventually I landed a fully funded apprenticeship that included training, qualifications and, most importantly, a job placement. I was offered two jobs after interviews and chose the larger company to complete my training with.
While doing my apprenticeship I worked with large retailers on their ERP installations whilst studying for my City & Guilds qualifications, as well as CompTIA A+ and N+. We were also given training for skills such as Windows 7 and customer services. Working while studying meant that what I learnt in the training centre was reinforced in my day-to-day role. It also meant I got to learn more than I would just in a classroom. I mainly learnt about Microsoft Dynamics AX, but also how servers worked and what to do when clients’ systems go down. It also gave me the skills I’d need to deal with customers, from the ones who you get on with to the ones who you dread picking up the phone to.
In my job placement, both myself and the other apprentice I worked with were matched up with mentors to help us with any questions we had in our day-to-day jobs. They gave us the confidence to ask questions, while other members of staff who we were working with on the support desk helped us out when we struggled. We all got on really well and had a laugh with each other when we were studying in the training centre too.
When we finished our apprenticeships, both of us were taken on by our employer and most of the other people in our cohort also remained at their same placements. I stayed on the support team and eventually moved into testing before moving into the banking sector. My colleague moved into the managed services team and was responsible for managing the servers and occasionally the computers that I would break.
There were ups and downs, but from my point of view as an apprentice I couldn’t recommend it enough. University degrees have their place, but the mix of study and then “real” work to enforce that learning has great power.
The other side
Whilst completing my training, I became a Microsoft apprenticeship ambassador, encouraging young people to consider apprenticeships as an alternative to university. I was lucky enough to visit the Houses of Parliament and Microsoft’s HQ in Reading. I discussed apprenticeships with MPs and Prince Andrew, specifically how to give disabled young people the support they needed to get into apprenticeships. I also visited a number of career fairs with my training provider to promote their new offerings in areas such as cybersecurity and programming.
In both of my corporate roles I encouraged my employers to employ apprentices. The benefit of employing them is their enthusiasm and the new ideas that they bring into your business. You will often find that apprentices are willing to learn from you and will use their own initiative to go and find information. They will also encourage your employees and even you to try new ways of doing things. There has been more than
“The mix of study and then ‘real’ work to enforce that learning has great power”
one occasion where I’ve learn ta quicker way of doing something from a new employee. If they’re in a training programme, they also bring to the organisation what they learn about in the training centre: the most up-to-date information on processes and tools.
This isn’t to say apprenticeships are always smooth, so allow me to share the stories of three apprentices I’ve worked with.
Patrick was the first. He was enthusiastic about learning in the training centre, but when we were in the workplace he got bored if he wasn’t always doing something. At first, the support desk manager took him under his wing but realised that his skills didn’t lie in answering calls from customers: they were more technical. Instead, our director of managed services gave him the opportunity to visit data centres and managed customers servers. Thanks to what he was learning in the training centre, he introduced new ways of installing software onto servers, saving both time and money. He thrived in this environment.
Another apprentice I knew was Alex, who was taking one of the newer programmes in software development. Unfortunately, he struggled with his apprenticeship as he found it difficult to put the required effort in. It didn’t help that, when he didn’t get on with his first mentor, he refused to put in any effort and became argumentative. Even being placed with a new mentor didn’t help this, so things came to their natural conclusion. But he has since flourished in new roles, still within software development and most recently for a betting company.
Stuart wanted a more hands-on role taking computers apart and putting them back together again. He was brought into the company initially as the company’s IT support for when staff computers went wrong. The issue was he didn’t enjoy being told what to do and would repair computers at his own pace, causing issues further up the chain when employees were left without their computers for long periods of time. His direct manager noticed what was happening and started setting him project-like tasks. Things such as reviewing the monthly implementation of security updates, changing the whole company’s antivirus software and implementing a server monitoring tool. As a result, Stuart became more engaged with the company and his attitude shifted.
He still repaired everyone’s computers but now in a much more efficient way. Eventually, Stuart concentrated on project-based work and a new apprentice was bought in to learn how to keep the companies computers going.
All this is to say that apprentices are young people with their own minds. In some cases, like many young people, they will need careful mentoring and there may be bumps in the road.
However, the rewards to companies are more than worth it.
Next steps
In January 2020, I set up my own business after leaving my last corporate role due to ill health. At the moment, it’s just my husband and myself. I’ll be honest: up until this point I hadn’t really used any of the hands-on skills I learned during my apprenticeship because in my corporate roles there was always a team of people to do this for us.
Now it’s up to me. I’m back to where I was as a little girl taking computers apart and putting them together again; the only difference this time is that it’s customers’ computers and I’m using the other skills I learnt in my apprenticeship such as customer service.
We aren’t at the point of employing anyone yet. However, as we continue to grow, our first employee will most likely be an apprentice. I’d like to give someone a start in life like I was given. I may not be in a position to do that yet, but I continue to spread the word about apprenticeships via my work as an apprenticeship ambassador and also at networking events.
I think that the more we talk about how university isn’t the only option for young people and make apprenticeships more attractive, the more the stigma will slowly drop.
It’s also important to go into schools and talk to children directly to tell them about their options and show how successful you can be as an apprentice. It would be nice if more schools allowed people to go in and talk about apprenticeships as they do with university.
So, if you are in the position to employ someone, why not look at an apprentice? They don’t even have to be in the 16-24 category anymore; there are mature apprenticeships available now, allowing people to change careers later in life. You may find it’s one of the most rewarding and beneficial things you do in your business. Not only will you be giving someone a chance to start their career, but you’ll be benefiting your business with knowledge.
Sometimes all a person needs is for another person to say yes and not to turn their back and close another door on them. Be the one to open the door to an apprentice and welcome them in with warm arms. You’ll never look back, I promise.
“You may find it’s one of the most rewarding and beneficial things you do in your business”