Government backed bootcamp, will it help me get work?
Discussion
I'll try and keep this as short as possible:
I was made redundant back in August and have been struggling to find work. I worked in IT, second line support until 2021, then was moved into a new role which ended up being ad-hoc data analysis / Power BI / Excel type stuff, but to cut a long story short there wasn't really much work for me to do so I never became properly good at any of that.
I am willing to give anything a shot, including changing careers.
I saw a "Cyber Security Apprenticeship" role being advertised for £27K - bear in mind I'm 46, so I didn't think I'd hear anything back really.
Then I got sent a message from a company called Just IT offering a 5 week online bootcamp Digital & IT Diploma, which is a government funded programme to help candidates upskill. Not really what I was expecting.
I looked into it and the company is legit, gets good reviews on trustpilot (4.6/5), and also gets mentioned on the "North East Combined Authority" website, apparently the North East is getting £26m of funding for this.
Anyway, I messaged back and said it wasn't really what I was applying for, I thought I was applying for an apprenticeship.
They got back to me fairly quickly and said they were keen to speak to me, and that I'd have to complete one of the training programmes.
I decided to do a little research and it seems this scheme is open to people in London, East Midlands and North East, and although the success rate for finding work was stated to be around 30% in the technology sector, Cyber Security was by far the most in demand (a shortage by all accounts), and the best successful outcomes were seen in the North East.
So, I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions or experience with anything like this? I've looked at some of the in demand jobs and one of the other main ones is Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning. This sounds perhaps a little less stressful and frantic than working in Cyber, but what do I know?
Is this worth pursuing? I'm otherwise not getting much luck on the job front.
I was made redundant back in August and have been struggling to find work. I worked in IT, second line support until 2021, then was moved into a new role which ended up being ad-hoc data analysis / Power BI / Excel type stuff, but to cut a long story short there wasn't really much work for me to do so I never became properly good at any of that.
I am willing to give anything a shot, including changing careers.
I saw a "Cyber Security Apprenticeship" role being advertised for £27K - bear in mind I'm 46, so I didn't think I'd hear anything back really.
Then I got sent a message from a company called Just IT offering a 5 week online bootcamp Digital & IT Diploma, which is a government funded programme to help candidates upskill. Not really what I was expecting.
I looked into it and the company is legit, gets good reviews on trustpilot (4.6/5), and also gets mentioned on the "North East Combined Authority" website, apparently the North East is getting £26m of funding for this.
Anyway, I messaged back and said it wasn't really what I was applying for, I thought I was applying for an apprenticeship.
They got back to me fairly quickly and said they were keen to speak to me, and that I'd have to complete one of the training programmes.
I decided to do a little research and it seems this scheme is open to people in London, East Midlands and North East, and although the success rate for finding work was stated to be around 30% in the technology sector, Cyber Security was by far the most in demand (a shortage by all accounts), and the best successful outcomes were seen in the North East.
So, I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions or experience with anything like this? I've looked at some of the in demand jobs and one of the other main ones is Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning. This sounds perhaps a little less stressful and frantic than working in Cyber, but what do I know?
Is this worth pursuing? I'm otherwise not getting much luck on the job front.
If you are keen on finding an apprenticeship in tech it might be worth keeping an eye on Makers: https://www.linkedin.com/school/makers-academy/.
They partner with Gov and numerous other companies to offer training and paid apprenticeships.
I career changed into tech a few years back via Makers (although not via an apprenticeship).
It is highly competitive, but you have to be in it to win it!
They partner with Gov and numerous other companies to offer training and paid apprenticeships.
I career changed into tech a few years back via Makers (although not via an apprenticeship).
It is highly competitive, but you have to be in it to win it!
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