Apprenticeships have changed the job scene for young adults forever, offering the chance to earn AND learn instead of having to choose one option or the other. Unlike university students, apprentice’s start earning from day one, and when they finish their studies they have no debts. If you are considering an apprenticeship programme yourself, read the following useful facts to get better acquainted with what is going on currently and what to expect.
It’s the best time
In the UK, the general career path used to involve college, then university, and finally the job of your dreams. Has this changed? Well, following the government’s decision to triple higher education fees, and then the further decision to raise them again in 2016 by £250, the option to take a different path has become a lot more popular. In fact, 491,300 people signed up for an apprenticeship programme between 2016 and 2017, with almost 25% of them belonging to the under-19 age group. For a lot of young adults, the unstable tuition fees act as a deterrent for university, and in comparison, an apprenticeship currently feels like a trustworthy alternative.
As well as being a more profitable alternative to university, with an apprenticeship there are excellent career prospects. If you can reach level 3 or even level 2 apprenticeship, your earnings can receive a minimum increase of 10% – 16% more than average. Perhaps the best part about being an apprentice is the fact that you often won’t have to look for a job when it ends, because over 90% of them retain a job either with the original employer or find a position with another company. The sheer fact that apprentices enjoy an employment rate above 90% in this economy is nothing short of impressive.
Employers Truly Value Apprentices
More than 90% of the apprentices in the UK do not require any additional training from their employers on being hired because they already know everything from first-hand experience. This is compared to a survey showed that about 87% of the employers were happy with their apprenticeship programmes and about 75% even admitted to seeing an improvement in their business products and services.
It helps young employees learn faster and perform better
About 89% of apprentices expressed satisfaction with their respective apprenticeship programs, while an overwhelming 97% agreed that they have gained skills, knowledge and experience that would prove to be crucial in the future.
Traineeships could prove useful for younger students
Some corporations are developing traineeship programs for young students to get acquainted with their fields of interest. Not only are these traineeships perfect before joining an apprenticeship, they can themselves lead to other jobs as well. Traineeships can help the younger students get a feel for certain fields of work, and will aid them in their decision to continue into an apprenticeship or not.
On the www.gov.uk website, it takes you through the ways you can get into an apprenticeship or a traineeship. There are also sections for employers, which you could still read even as a potential apprentice: understanding the process of hiring an apprentice will put you in a better position when looking to be employed. If you want to learn more about how apprenticeships could help you with your career, visit cityandguilds.com for more information, as they include a short informative video about how apprenticeships can boost careers. There are a range of other videos as well, in which some students talk about their independent work, and talk about how apprenticeships helped them get where they are. As it is with any other form of education or professional training, choosing the right path could set you on the path to a really rewarding and lucrative career.
