Stephanie Palmer advises employers on the best ways to mentor apprentices to become long-term assets to a company.

After spending eight months studying sports therapy at university, I decided that it was not the right route for me.

I was unhappy with the quality of the course I was paying a huge amount for and decided to explore other non-university career paths.

At school, training as an apprentice wasn’t endorsed with equal merit as going to university, so I hadn’t really seen an apprenticeship as a viable route.

But after being disappointed with my university experience, I decided to research the option.

It was then that I came across the opportunity to work as an apprentice business coordinator for Fujitsu.

I leapt at the chance to train with such a highly regarded company.

The prospect of walking into a real working environment was quite daunting — far more intimidating than turning up for the first day of fresher’s week at university.

But as soon as I started my apprenticeship these nerves were put to rest.

I was working in a fun and supportive environment that was driving my career forward and allowing me to learn while earning.

As I progressed over the three years of my apprenticeship, I saw a need within the company for someone to mentor new intakes.

I was appointed as the overarching apprentice mentor for Fujitsu UK and Ireland to ensure Fujitsu could support them professionally and that they completed the scheme as highly trained and experienced employees.

From my experience of running apprenticeship workshops and as an apprentice ambassador, there are a few key steps I believe employers can take to ensure that they mentor successful apprenticeships.

Apprentices are here to learn and making mistakes and learning from them is a part of that

Firstly, take the time to find the right candidate.

The most important attribute for an apprentice is an eagerness to learn and a passion for your company.

If a candidate does not seem fully engaged at the start, they are less likely to stay with your company after their training.

If you have invested valuable time and money into their training, of course you would be disappointed to see them leave, so it is important not to rush the hiring process and make sure they are passionate about their role and training and the company itself.

Secondly, foster a happy working environment.

Be mindful that this is likely to be the first working environment that your apprentices have worked in.

This is naturally daunting, so in order to keep the candidates motivated, it is important that they feel relaxed and comfortable in the working environment and with their new colleagues.

A great way to achieve this is to ensure they are integrated fully into the workplace and treated as other permanent members of staff would be.

A nice strategy to introduce is allocating an individual mentor or ‘buddy’ to each apprentice.

This is something that has worked really well at Fujitsu, allowing the apprentices to have a friend and sounding board for any concerns they might have.

And finally, allow them to make mistakes.

Mistakes happen, particularly in your first working role.

The beauty of an apprenticeship, is the opportunity it provides to learn in a real place of work, so it is important that employers remember apprentices are here to learn and making mistakes and learning from them is a part of that.

What is crucial is that they are shown constructively how to get around issues, feel supported and learn from these mistakes.

 

 

Stephanie Palmer is a former apprentice for Fujitsu, apprentice ambassador for GetMyFirstJob, and winner of the 2015 West Midlands Higher Apprentice of the Year award

Ruth Sparkes advises providers on how best to promote their apprenticeships programmes.

We have, in our marketing armoury, lots of ammunition when it comes to recruiting potential students and persuading them that getting an apprenticeship is a good idea

There are specialist magazines, prospectuses, websites, job-matching services, mobile apps, social media, bumper stickers — not to mention the national weeks dedicated to raising the awareness of apprenticeships.

We have built this arsenal because to get students’ attention there is a lot of competition.

Schools are competing with colleges, colleges and training providers are both working and competing with employers — and each other — while employers are working and competing with universities to sign-up the potential ‘high flyers’.

But because apprenticeships are not A-levels, parents and the media are not particularly interested in them, or well informed about them — we need to continually tell the world about how successful young people who complete apprenticeships really are.

Apprenticeships still suffer from a tainted reputation.

Just last month, an inquiry was launched to look at how the Government proposes to achieve its target and how standards can be maintained and enforced.

And the Sutton Trust recently reported 60 per cent of apprenticeships are currently set at GCSE standard (level two), with too many offering ‘little value beyond traditional work experience placements’.

We used GCSE results day last year to get an apprentice on ITV’s This Morning

After reading this, put yourself in our audience’s shoes — do we look like we’re trying to pass off a pig’s ear as a silk purse?

I often maintain that marketing is not about papering over the cracks. Even though apprenticeships are a long way off being perfect, there are some obstacles that we can identify and overcome.

We need to accept there isn’t parity of esteem for apprenticeships and complaining about this is a waste of time.

Schools and universities are major influencers and they are not currently singing the praises of apprenticeships — a Russell Group university will not look favourably on apprenticeships as a route to their brand of higher education.

Look at local schools’ websites — if there’s an alumni page, how many listings mention ex-students going off to complete an apprenticeship?

In the blurb about the school or under ‘destinations’, is there a list of students who go on to apprenticeships after GCSE or A-levels? I’m guessing not.

Colleges aren’t so hot at this either.

In the media we see plenty of stories about students who are Oxbridge bound, but not many about students who are apprenticeship bound. It’s not a criticism; it’s just not ‘news’.

My first tip would be keep the messages simple.

Have at least three messages for your different audiences — for parents and apprentices your message might be ‘employers are hungry for certain skills and this is the most cost effective route to a valuable career – debt free!

Secondly, use current national stories — topics to piggyback on currently include skills shortages, mindfulness, women in STEM, males in primary schools, aerospace and Europe.

We used GCSE results day last year to get an apprentice on ITV’s This Morning.

Thirdly, find a personal or unusual angle. Look for something unique.

We’ve used ex-soldiers who’ve retrained in construction — Baghdad to Battersea — and a costume apprentice at the English National Opera.

Finally, beware the stereotype. Even high quality images of females painting nails and males laying bricks do nothing to further our cause.

 

Ruth Sparkes is managing director of EMPRA, an education media and PR agency

Exeter College is rated outstanding by Ofsted which has praised the excellent progress made there by apprentices. So John Laramy, who will start as principal in April and was previously deputy principal in charge of curriculum, quality and standards at the college, reflects here on the secret of success for its apprenticeship programme.

Since the age of 16, when I entered the construction industry as a trainee and attended college, first on a block release basis and then on a day release basis, I have been aware of the impact of teaching and learning on ambition and ultimately on success.

I endorse the drive to increase the quality and quantity of apprentices within our country, but fear the biggest barrier is a cultural one, and we as a sector need to be passionate about communicating with and informing both schools and parents of the benefits of apprenticeships.

In addition, the Government has a key role to play in driving a wider cultural change and acceptance of apprenticeships as a different, but valid vehicle for learning and career advancement.

There are four elements that feature in truly outstanding apprenticeship provision: partnership, industry standards, relevance and ambition.

Our apprenticeship provision success is based on some key foundations.

In my view, at the heart of a successful apprenticeship is partnership. Today, for the majority of providers, it goes three ways between the apprentice, employer and provider.

While I see value in the apprenticeship ethos for people of all ages, and support lifelong learning, the key focus of our college for our apprenticeship provision and the employers we work with is young people, primarily aged up to 24 years of age.

Employers are busy, so it is critical that time is spent to identify the right apprentice, for the right employer.

It is critical that time is spent to identify the right apprentice

For our college, this unfunded investment has been a critical element of our success — in fact our current problem is that we have more vacancies than we have candidates.

An apprenticeship programme is a time and capacity commitment for an employer.

To create a programme that is meaningful, valid and robust takes resource, and requires ‘two-way’ honest conversations right from the outset.

There are many different providers across the country and we have a responsibility to deliver outstanding training that makes a difference: for businesses this means to the bottom line.

The second critical area is ensuring that we match current industry standards.

As a sector, we have a responsibility to drive innovation and stay at the cutting edge, this is why the right level of funding for apprenticeships is critical.

It is about being prepared to go above and beyond the framework requirement and recognising that sometimes the standard offer is just not enough.

Relevance is about making sure that teaching staff are current, up-to-date and reflective of current practice.

The best teachers bring vocational teaching to life by using examples and experiences. I see apprentices fully engage when great staff share real life situations.

Ambition is about setting standards, whether a qualification is graded or not, and it’s also about encouraging excellence.

Some providers use competition and others use role models, whatever the approach, I believe outstanding teaching and learning manifests ambition.

My hope for the future is that we start to celebrate the difference between full-time and apprenticeship learning, rather than endlessly hunting for the similarity.

The key thing I would ask for is stability; each government sees skills education as a set of chess pieces to be moved.

Since 1981 I believe there have been 28 Acts of Parliament, 61 ministers involved and seven different agencies!

Let’s make a decision for the benefit of the country, get all party support and stick with a ‘generation plan’.

 

John Laramy is principal designate of Exeter College

Huge numbers of women are now taking apprenticeships, but Dr Carole Easton explains why YWT thinks they are missing out “at every level” compared to their male counterparts.

Much has changed since apprenticeships mainly acted as a route into trades for men, with few opportunities for women.

Last year 264,750 women and 235,140 men began apprenticeships, which would seem to represent one of the huge successes of the apprenticeship programme.

However the reality is not so clear cut.

At their best, apprenticeships can offer young people new skills and excellent routes into employment, help employers fill skill gaps and make a huge contribution to a productive economy.

Sadly, not all apprenticeships are created equal and it is young women who are losing out at every level.

We recently reported there is a gender pay gap in apprenticeships.

And 16 per cent of young women told us they were out of work following an apprenticeship compared to 6 per cent of men.

Gender segregation is also very high in apprenticeships.

For every woman starting an apprenticeship in engineering there are 25 men. In plumbing the ratio is 1:74.

Gender segregation is very high in apprenticeships

Having asked young people about apprenticeships YWT commissioned a survey of the general population from ComRes and found that university continues to be preferred by middle class parents.

Working class parents were more likely to prefer apprenticeships for their children.

Overall, there is a tendency to see apprenticeships as best suited to young people, under 25 with low academic qualifications and seeking skilled manual work.

Some 89 per cent consider apprenticeships to be equally suited to men and women, but 7 per cent say they are better for men and 3 per cent for women.

In my view, these statistics demonstrate that there is a long way to go before apprenticeships are seen by everyone as a genuine and valued alternative to university degrees and before they become a route to greater equality of opportunities for young women with and without academic qualifications.

Even when young women do consider apprenticeships, they report that there are a number of deterrents.

They have told YWT that poor quality, stereotypical careers advice; lack of confidence; bullying and harassment in male dominated work places — and the portrayal of what constitutes women’s work in the media — all contribute to the persistence of job and apprenticeship segregation.

They are also deterred by the lack of flexible working hours and very poor pay (it is legal to pay an apprentice £3.30 per hour in their first year) — which is completely untenable for most people and particularly for young women who have caring responsibilities.

YWT is making recommendations which can make a difference.

We are asking employers and training providers to take positive action where the numbers of women are disproportionately low.

This could include setting targets, reserving places on courses and providing work experience placements.

To improve the opportunities for those who have left school with few qualifications, YWT is also encouraging employers and training providers to remove any formal academic entry requirements for apprenticeships unless they are directly necessary for performing the role.

We are also asking for clearer data which shows what is happening to women and men during and after apprenticeships.

We want pay and financial support increased and a greater availability of part time and flexible opportunities.

We also want to see improvements in the advice and support given to apprentices before during and after their apprenticeships.

 

Dr Carole Easton is chief executive of the Young Women’s Trust