IT Apprenticeship
Discussion
Evening all.
I recently applied for an IT apprenticeship with a local company, and surprisingly they want to take my application further.
Now, if I get the placement I will have to leave college where I am doing an IT Diploma.
I am weighing up the pros and cons of both at the moment and they are as follows.
College
Pros
- Longer time there
- I have settled in
- Varied subjects
Cons
- Tutors are bad
- Half the subjects mean nothing and I have covered before
- Nothing is guaranteed at the end of it
Apprenticeship
Pros
- Working in a small team so it's easier to concentrate
- Doing something I am interested in
- Get payed
Cons
- Not sure of any yet..
I am undecided as to what to do, so I am asking the PH Massive what I should do and if any of you have any experiances with IT Apprenticeships.
Forgot to add, I will be doing
• Assisting with the imaging, and maintenance of PCs
• Gaining insight on how to Setup, update, and fault diagnosis of customer IT systems
• Shadowing and assisting technicians with General network support and troubleshooting
• Call handling: answering customer queries directly on the phone where required and maintaining accurate records
• Maintaining client databases
• Installation of computers and peripheral devices (e.g. printers, scanners, mobile/smart phones).
• Answering the phone in a professional manner and, if relevant passing on any information promptly.
Since this a trainee role, no previous IT employment experience is required, however, we do require the following qualities to become successful with us
• Good English communication and language skills
• Has an understanding of the following operating systems: Windows XP, Vista, 7. Being able to diagnose errors is ideal but not essential
• Ability to work responsibly with sensitive customer data, taking the appropriate steps to ensure integrity of such data at all times.
• Ability to work as part of a small team.
Cheers.
I recently applied for an IT apprenticeship with a local company, and surprisingly they want to take my application further.
Now, if I get the placement I will have to leave college where I am doing an IT Diploma.
I am weighing up the pros and cons of both at the moment and they are as follows.
College
Pros
- Longer time there
- I have settled in
- Varied subjects
Cons
- Tutors are bad
- Half the subjects mean nothing and I have covered before
- Nothing is guaranteed at the end of it
Apprenticeship
Pros
- Working in a small team so it's easier to concentrate
- Doing something I am interested in
- Get payed
Cons
- Not sure of any yet..
I am undecided as to what to do, so I am asking the PH Massive what I should do and if any of you have any experiances with IT Apprenticeships.
Forgot to add, I will be doing
• Assisting with the imaging, and maintenance of PCs
• Gaining insight on how to Setup, update, and fault diagnosis of customer IT systems
• Shadowing and assisting technicians with General network support and troubleshooting
• Call handling: answering customer queries directly on the phone where required and maintaining accurate records
• Maintaining client databases
• Installation of computers and peripheral devices (e.g. printers, scanners, mobile/smart phones).
• Answering the phone in a professional manner and, if relevant passing on any information promptly.
Since this a trainee role, no previous IT employment experience is required, however, we do require the following qualities to become successful with us
• Good English communication and language skills
• Has an understanding of the following operating systems: Windows XP, Vista, 7. Being able to diagnose errors is ideal but not essential
• Ability to work responsibly with sensitive customer data, taking the appropriate steps to ensure integrity of such data at all times.
• Ability to work as part of a small team.
Cheers.
I'm not a big supporter of IT qualifications, real world experience matters much more to me though I would say that having not done any certs.
Looking through peoples CV's who are at a similar level to you qualifications were never important, we always looked for people who showed a genuine interest in IT. Most places these days beyond entry level would give you tests to prove your knowledge anyway in my experience.
Getting to work in a proper work environment could be invaluable, there's a lot more to working in IT than just knowing a switch from a router.
Looking through peoples CV's who are at a similar level to you qualifications were never important, we always looked for people who showed a genuine interest in IT. Most places these days beyond entry level would give you tests to prove your knowledge anyway in my experience.
Getting to work in a proper work environment could be invaluable, there's a lot more to working in IT than just knowing a switch from a router.
Can you fit in both. In my 8 years of IT employment real world experience counts for more than qualifications.
I was talking to a colleague the other day along these lines and we both agreed that we'd take someone with 3 years experience real world over 3 years of classroom based learning. Substitute the 3 with whatever number you like and obviously attitude plays a part as well.
Good luck with whatever decision you make.
I was talking to a colleague the other day along these lines and we both agreed that we'd take someone with 3 years experience real world over 3 years of classroom based learning. Substitute the 3 with whatever number you like and obviously attitude plays a part as well.
Good luck with whatever decision you make.
LiamB said:
Cheers guys.
Forgot to say, I am also only 16.
At the end of an apprenticeship, I will get a job with them and a level 2 NVQ.
I wouldn't be able to do both as it is a full time apprenticeship.
Is the job guarenteed?Forgot to say, I am also only 16.
At the end of an apprenticeship, I will get a job with them and a level 2 NVQ.
I wouldn't be able to do both as it is a full time apprenticeship.
If so I'd go for the apprenticeship
Do you get any day release etc with the apprenticeship, or is it all on the job assessments etc?
I went for the apprenticeship, sort of regret it, sort of don't. I've been here 3 years, started when I was 17. Finished a few months ago
Pros:
It gave me the money to have a cars, which at the end of the day, was what I wanted
3 years of IT working experience on the CV
Level 3 diplomas, NVQ's and BTEC quals
Cons:
Social life pretty much depleted, other than the friends I already had
Didn't get to go to Uni at the same time as my friends did
My college was s
t, I didn't hear from them for 10 months at one point
I really wish I would have gone to college then Uni, but if I had done that, would I be wishing I had got an apprenticeship and had money?
Pros:
It gave me the money to have a cars, which at the end of the day, was what I wanted
3 years of IT working experience on the CV
Level 3 diplomas, NVQ's and BTEC quals
Cons:
Social life pretty much depleted, other than the friends I already had
Didn't get to go to Uni at the same time as my friends did
My college was s
t, I didn't hear from them for 10 months at one pointI really wish I would have gone to college then Uni, but if I had done that, would I be wishing I had got an apprenticeship and had money?
LiamB said:
Cheers guys.
Forgot to say, I am also only 16.
At the end of an apprenticeship, I will get a job with them and a level 2 NVQ.
I wouldn't be able to do both as it is a full time apprenticeship.
I think you have already answered your own question under the Pros for the apprenticeship "do something i am interested in"Forgot to say, I am also only 16.
At the end of an apprenticeship, I will get a job with them and a level 2 NVQ.
I wouldn't be able to do both as it is a full time apprenticeship.
DanielJames said:
I went for the apprenticeship, sort of regret it, sort of don't. I've been here 3 years, started when I was 17. Finished a few months ago
Pros:
It gave me the money to have a cars, which at the end of the day, was what I wanted
3 years of IT working experience on the CV
Level 3 diplomas, NVQ's and BTEC quals
Cons:
Social life pretty much depleted, other than the friends I already had
Didn't get to go to Uni at the same time as my friends did
My college was st, I didn't hear from them for 10 months at one point
I really wish I would have gone to college then Uni, but if I had done that, would I be wishing I had got an apprenticeship and had money?
I did the complete opposite. Went to college and then to uni and really wish I'd gone straight into the world of work!Pros:
It gave me the money to have a cars, which at the end of the day, was what I wanted
3 years of IT working experience on the CV
Level 3 diplomas, NVQ's and BTEC quals
Cons:
Social life pretty much depleted, other than the friends I already had
Didn't get to go to Uni at the same time as my friends did
My college was s
t, I didn't hear from them for 10 months at one pointI really wish I would have gone to college then Uni, but if I had done that, would I be wishing I had got an apprenticeship and had money?
As per most of my threads, I have forgot to update this..
Interview went great. But what I thought (and read) was the interview for the job, was actually an interview for the agency that put the job on the 'market'.
As I said, it went excellently.
Was just a few questions regarding why I want to leave my current education and what it is I am looking for in the apprenticeship scheme.
After that, I got told I was 'exceptional' (get me!) and I was asked to wait while the others got interviewed.
I saw a chap called Mike who basically said they would put a fast track on my CV and update it, make it look good etc.
Last week he showed me a preview of it, and it is looking good so far.
This week they are starting to send my CV out to companies within a 30 mile radius of me.
So, here is to hoping!
Interview went great. But what I thought (and read) was the interview for the job, was actually an interview for the agency that put the job on the 'market'.
As I said, it went excellently.
Was just a few questions regarding why I want to leave my current education and what it is I am looking for in the apprenticeship scheme.
After that, I got told I was 'exceptional' (get me!) and I was asked to wait while the others got interviewed.
I saw a chap called Mike who basically said they would put a fast track on my CV and update it, make it look good etc.
Last week he showed me a preview of it, and it is looking good so far.
This week they are starting to send my CV out to companies within a 30 mile radius of me.
So, here is to hoping!
LiamB said:
I saw a chap called Mike who basically said they would put a fast track on my CV and update it, make it look good etc.
Last week he showed me a preview of it, and it is looking good so far.
This week they are starting to send my CV out to companies within a 30 mile radius of me.
So, here is to hoping!
I don't want to disappoint you but the agency is currently just selling their services to you. They are not selling you to companies. They have convinced you that you're extra special, your CV is being fast-tracked and it might even get a gold star Last week he showed me a preview of it, and it is looking good so far.
This week they are starting to send my CV out to companies within a 30 mile radius of me.
So, here is to hoping!
They will do this with everyone because it makes you less likely to go to other agencies or even direct to employers.I'm a developer for an IT company and we have just taken on our first apprentice. There is no reason for an agency to be involved. Any company interested in an apprentice will have given their details to the local colleges. These companies would rather you approached them directly through the college because it avoids the agency fees.
Yeah as has been commented on above they are going to send your CV out to companies offering you as an apprentice for £20,000 a year and will then pay you £12,000.
I get a lot of offers from this kind of company and it's not great, finish your college course or find a genuine apprentice program.
I get a lot of offers from this kind of company and it's not great, finish your college course or find a genuine apprentice program.
I left college after one year, To take a low paid low-level IT job because i wasn't enjoying the IT course. Probably the worst mistake i could have made!. The job was crap, the pay was crap - I was bored of it within 6 months. I Eventually left, bounced around various low paid jobs for a while. I finally got a decent IT role at 23, But it took alot of effort to get here and i'm much further behind on the career ladder than i would have been had i stayed in education. Take it from someone who has already made that mistake and lived to regret it!. You may get lucky, You may get a good apprenticeship with a good company. We get plenty of job applications from people who have gone through IT apprenticeships, Very few of them made it past telephone interviews. None of our current technical staff have many (If any) IT Qualifications on paper - But they all had a proven ability to do the job either through previous professional experience, Or their own personal projects.
Carry on with your education, Use your downtime to build up experience in the areas that interest you but aren't covered by your current course.
What technologies are you actually interested in? What do you want to learn more about? IT involves a broad spectrum of work and specialities - A generic qualification (Which is usually no more than a button pushing exercise!) is next to useless for anything other than the most basic, boring of jobs.
I'm sure there will be someone on here that can advise you where best to go next, Based on what actually interests you.
Carry on with your education, Use your downtime to build up experience in the areas that interest you but aren't covered by your current course.
What technologies are you actually interested in? What do you want to learn more about? IT involves a broad spectrum of work and specialities - A generic qualification (Which is usually no more than a button pushing exercise!) is next to useless for anything other than the most basic, boring of jobs.
I'm sure there will be someone on here that can advise you where best to go next, Based on what actually interests you.
alock said:
I don't want to disappoint you but the agency is currently just selling their services to you. They are not selling you to companies. They have convinced you that you're extra special, your CV is being fast-tracked and it might even get a gold star They will do this with everyone because it makes you less likely to go to other agencies or even direct to employers.
I'm a developer for an IT company and we have just taken on our first apprentice. There is no reason for an agency to be involved. Any company interested in an apprentice will have given their details to the local colleges. These companies would rather you approached them directly through the college because it avoids the agency fees.
+1. You really need to becareful of agencies these days. Our company have apprenticeships too but we never need to outsource that to agencies ... They will do this with everyone because it makes you less likely to go to other agencies or even direct to employers.I'm a developer for an IT company and we have just taken on our first apprentice. There is no reason for an agency to be involved. Any company interested in an apprentice will have given their details to the local colleges. These companies would rather you approached them directly through the college because it avoids the agency fees.
At your age I will strongly advise you to pursue a degree first. A lot of people say degrees don't matter etc etc but when you have hit your ceiling with real world experience in your 30s and a younger chap with qualifications and less years of experience gets the promotion you'll regret it. Unless you only want to be in support your whole IT career I'd say try to get some qualifications.
Edited by crazy about cars on Thursday 24th January 07:57
If you do get offered something genuine, it is a tricky decision. It's one I faced several years ago (back in the late 90's 
)
I finished school after A Levels and got a holiday job with a big IT company - just doing secretarial type stuff. I went to college to study for an NVQ3 and about half way through the course was offered a position with the same company doing internal IT tech support - PC fixing, changing printer cartridges, Level 1/2 tech support etc. I managed to agree 1 day/week to finish my college course so ended up with the job and the qualification.
After about another year I left and went to Uni to get my degree, but went back to the company to work during summer holidays etc.
That degree allowed me to apply for a grads scheme at another big IT company and now 10 years later I'm doing really well in my career, still technical but working in pre-sales rather than support which I prefer.
If I hadn't had the initial IT job I wouldn't be where I am now, but equally I wouldn't without the degree either; it can be hard to make the transition from the IT support department to any other type of IT work (e.g. pre-sales, customer post-sales, consultancy/architecture etc.) - and harder without the degree, and I suspect even harder these days.
So it's not an easy choice, and may depend partly on what you want to end up doing.
Having said that, the agency thing sounds like a bit of a scam - I have got all of my jobs by just phoning the HR departments of the companies and asking if they had anything.... if you're still at college studying and aren't in a desperate rush to leave (and you're only 16) it may be worth staying put and giving yourself the option of continuing up the NVQ route / HND/C (assuming they still have those) / degree etc., and seeing what other options present themselves.
)I finished school after A Levels and got a holiday job with a big IT company - just doing secretarial type stuff. I went to college to study for an NVQ3 and about half way through the course was offered a position with the same company doing internal IT tech support - PC fixing, changing printer cartridges, Level 1/2 tech support etc. I managed to agree 1 day/week to finish my college course so ended up with the job and the qualification.
After about another year I left and went to Uni to get my degree, but went back to the company to work during summer holidays etc.
That degree allowed me to apply for a grads scheme at another big IT company and now 10 years later I'm doing really well in my career, still technical but working in pre-sales rather than support which I prefer.
If I hadn't had the initial IT job I wouldn't be where I am now, but equally I wouldn't without the degree either; it can be hard to make the transition from the IT support department to any other type of IT work (e.g. pre-sales, customer post-sales, consultancy/architecture etc.) - and harder without the degree, and I suspect even harder these days.
So it's not an easy choice, and may depend partly on what you want to end up doing.
Having said that, the agency thing sounds like a bit of a scam - I have got all of my jobs by just phoning the HR departments of the companies and asking if they had anything.... if you're still at college studying and aren't in a desperate rush to leave (and you're only 16) it may be worth staying put and giving yourself the option of continuing up the NVQ route / HND/C (assuming they still have those) / degree etc., and seeing what other options present themselves.
might be a bit late but here's my experience on this matter...
so at 18 i left college after two years of IT, didn't come out with what i want but they were passes after all, didnt fancy more education (uni) so job it was..
short story; i was unemployed for 10/11 months (purely because of next to no experience)
May last year i decided to put up with it and apply to a apprenticeship, IT for a Debt Recovery Business
My Boss was a complete arse, didnt want me in the company and was doing alot more than what i should of been doing for the pay, oh and he didnt let me do any of my coursework at any point during working hours. Basically Hell.
so February this year enough was enough, job hunting but this time with some experience under my belt, after like 2 dozen applications came 3 interviews... interview 3 came a job offer and here i am today in my new job in web design/tech support (class boss, 2.5x more money, a place that i feel comfortable and happy to stay)
yes i said goodbye to a NVQ level 3, but at the end of the day money is money!
go for the apprenticeship without of the doubt, youll get alot more out of the experience than the qualifications you get!
Regards
Lee
so at 18 i left college after two years of IT, didn't come out with what i want but they were passes after all, didnt fancy more education (uni) so job it was..
short story; i was unemployed for 10/11 months (purely because of next to no experience)
May last year i decided to put up with it and apply to a apprenticeship, IT for a Debt Recovery Business
My Boss was a complete arse, didnt want me in the company and was doing alot more than what i should of been doing for the pay, oh and he didnt let me do any of my coursework at any point during working hours. Basically Hell.
so February this year enough was enough, job hunting but this time with some experience under my belt, after like 2 dozen applications came 3 interviews... interview 3 came a job offer and here i am today in my new job in web design/tech support (class boss, 2.5x more money, a place that i feel comfortable and happy to stay)
yes i said goodbye to a NVQ level 3, but at the end of the day money is money!
go for the apprenticeship without of the doubt, youll get alot more out of the experience than the qualifications you get!
Regards
Lee
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