College the Smart choice for Apprenticeship Week
Visitors to the Bracknell & Wokingham College
Open event
on 6 February 2010 will be able to talk about
Apprenticeships, with the employers who work with
our students.
The event is part of
National Apprenticeships Week 2010. The Week, from 1-5 February
2010, is a celebration of the skills of apprentices organised by
the National Apprenticeship
Service (NAS). As a government priority, Apprenticeship
training is fully funded for all 16-18 year olds
and employers are fully supported throughout the process by the
NAS.
Visitors can ask our employers about:
- applying for jobs
- working for our different organisations, from self-employed
individuals to large corporations
- life as an apprentice, learning and
earning
Businesses are also welcome to come and find out how they could
benefit from taking on an apprentice.
One employer, Smart Electrical
Services UK Ltd, is run by Ross Smart, 27, from Reading. Ross
started his career with an Electrical installation Apprenticeship
at the college and now takes on college students as apprentices
of his own!
“An Apprenticeship gives you a solid grounding
in everything. If you’re driven, and know what you want, it lets
you go on and do other courses as well as giving you lots
of good experience on site.
“I did Geography
at university, but finished not knowing how to get into work. I
decided on the Apprenticeship and wrote to everyone in the Yellow
Pages before I was offered a job. The college was really helpful
and the teachers were really supportive.
“I stayed with the same company after my Apprenticeship and I
was given more responsibility after my training. I started to run
jobs for them which was a great experience, and made me realise I
enjoyed training people.
“I started Smart Electrical Services after that, and soon was
getting more and more work. So I decided to take on some
apprentices myself, and after my experience with the college I was
happy to take their students.
"It’s good for businesses to have apprentices – they’re
keen, and it’s great to see their improvement from
their course and the training you give them.
“I think customers like to see that I’m putting my apprentices
through college – I feel like I’m putting something
back. By the time they finish, I’ve got someone who’s
trained under me for years, and who’s qualified as well.”
We've been running Apprenticeships since 1997, and in that time
we've helped train over 800 apprentices.