I want to be a brickie. If I had the chance to be an apprentice I would go for it
Rebecca Reilly would jump at the chance to secure an apprenticeship.
The 17-year-old, from Cardonald, Glasgow, has already taken her first steps to train as a bricklayer but says that job opportunities in the building industry at the moment are slim.
She said: “For years I told my family that I wanted to go to university and become a lawyer so they were shocked when a few months ago I announced I had changed my mind and was going to be a brickie, with a mind to eventually starting up my own building business.
“I have applied for quite a few apprenticeships already but it is hard-going to even get an interview because of the pandemic, so I think it would be a great idea if the Government subsidised thousands of new apprenticeships.”
Rebecca recently completed a course in basic construction skills with the First Steps Future Training charity and is returning to study for relevant certificates that are required to work on a building site.
She has stayed on the roll at St Paul’s High School in case she doesn’t land a
full-time apprenticeship but said she was determined to get out into the world of work and earn her own money as soon as possible.
“I want to get into the construction industry on the ground level and work towards becoming a project manager, then one day having my own firm,” she said. “I have a lot of determination. I just need a chance to get started.
“The course I did with First Steps gave me the basics in bricklaying, mono-blocking and scaffolding and I am now looking for a placement with an employer.
“If the chance of an apprenticeship came up I would go for it.”