Why start an apprenticeship?
Firebrand Training
22 March, 2013
The sixth annual National Apprenticeship Week took place last week and was the biggest and best yet. Hundreds of events took place across England.
The Week was designed to celebrate Apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the economy.
Every year the Week increases in popularity and National Apprenticeship Week 2013 was a phenomenal success, with hundreds of events and activities on offer. These ranged from business events designed to encourage more employers to recruit apprentices, to interactive careers events aimed at potential apprentices.
So why choose an apprenticeship?
Government figures show that almost one million 16 to 24 year olds are currently unemployed, and of those that continue into university, most will leave with nearly £44,000 in debt. But there is another option, an apprenticeship.
An apprenticeship is a real job where you get access to training and experience that will give you a great advantage in the job market. And to top it off, you’ll get paid a guaranteed wage while you’re learning.
Apprenticeships are becoming ever more popular, with both employers and learners attracted to the excellent career prospects they provide. Over 500,000 apprenticeship courses were taken up in 2012 in the UK. This number has risen every year for the last five years. Unlike a University course, as an apprentice you will receive a wage throughout your training. The average national wage for an apprentice is around £170 a week and we recommend that your employer increases this as you pass your exams. You’ll also get paid holidays.
A recent survey found that although you’re not guaranteed a job at the end of your 12 months apprenticeship, over 80% of apprentices are still working for their employer a year after the course finishes and almost half (42%) had received a promotion after completing their apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships with Firebrand
A Firebrand Apprenticeship is a real paid job, in an IT related business where you learn on the job and all your training is provided through Firebrands Accelerated Learning technique.
- We’ll find you the job
- Fast-track training
- Earn while you learn
- Hands-on work experience
- Industry-standard qualifications
- Work in a fast-paced fast-growing industry
The Firebrand Apprenticeship course lasts for a year and during that time Firebrand will give you five weeks of intensive training backed up with continual assessment while you’re in work.
At the end of the course, after passing your exam, you will be ready to work in an industry where starting salaries for apprentices are around £18,000 and you will be able to work in any of the following jobs:
- Support Technician
- Website Administrator
- Helpdesk Professional
- Software/ Web Developer
- Desktop Support Engineer
- Network Planner
- Database Administrator
- Network Engineer
- Software Tester
- Mobile and Windows app Developer
Here’s what Dragon’s Den investor Peter Jones says about apprentices: “Throughout my career, some of my best hires have been people who have bypassed the traditional route of university and learned their skills through apprenticeship schemes or alternative education courses. They have come to the workplace with a solid understanding of the real world and a steely determination to succeed. Those are the characteristics we need in order to build an entrepreneurial Britain.”
Prime Minister David Cameron joined Skills Minister Matthew Hancock on a visit to meet young apprentices at a training academy in Buckinghamshire. There the Prime Minister pledged to make it the ‘new norm’ for school leavers to take an apprenticeship or go to university.