As the elections loom and the key political parties advocate their differing manifestos, one of the elements that there isn’t too much of a disparity on is their recognition on the value of Apprenticeships.
With The Conservative Party wanting to create another 3 million apprenticeships, & Labour endeavouring to encourage an equal number of apprenticeships as university applicants within the next decade it’s immense validation regardless of who you support.
Having been with iO1 for the past four years, I’ve had the pleasure of observing many apprentices enter the organisation as apprehensive newbies, work their way up the ranks and emerge as capable & invaluably confident team members that the most respected individuals within our most prestigious client organisations specifically request!
From my own experience of growing up in Ireland, apprenticeships were often seen as a last resort & had more negative than positive associations attached. John or Jane only took only took one if they didn’t make the grades – Admittedly this was a looong time ago and things may have changed, but unfortunately apprenticeships never went head to head with college or University applications.
If a student has a strength towards a particular subject matter or industry & encounters the right opportunity, it makes absolute sense for them to enter the workforce, learn on the job, earn a salary & emerge a couple of years later with a qualification & significant headstart on their counterparts who have spent the same amount of time studying.
Let me go back to the significance of the right opportunity – the hosting organisation is as important as the apprentice itself & there needs to be a match – it’s a significant investment of company time & resource – but an investment we make with a heart & half for the right person. We’re growing fast & continually expanding the team, always on the look out for the right minds to join us – in fact, we’ve just opened another apprenticeship role to join our Sales & Marketing team to help continue the significant success we have enjoyed in a relatively short space of time.
Looking forward to welcoming them to join our hard working, fun loving, ping-pong playing team!
