The success of the Traineeship programme introduced by JTL is being highlighted by the warmth with which it is being received by Interserve Engineering Services (IES).
A recent event at JTL’s Birmingham Centre of Excellence saw six young men recognised for their achievement having completed Traineeships before being taken on by Interserve as full time apprentices – three of them in electrical installation, one in heating and ventilation and two in plumbing – roles they could only have dreamed of before they took their traineeship courses with JTL.
Traineeships are a relatively new approach by the Government to raise the employability skills of many young people leaving schools, or currently registered as not in employment, education or training (NEET). Young people aged 16-18 complete a programme that combines work preparation and associated training alongside a number of weeks of work experience with an employer.
Interserve Engineering Services Ltd, part of the Interserve Construction Group, has been accepting trainees on the Traineeship programme from JTL and has seen it evolve into a worthwhile ‘extended interview’ for potential new recruits to the company’s apprenticeship scheme.
The company’s Apprenticeship Manager, Steve Carroll, says it’s been a great success for their business: “The flexibility of a traineeship offers IES the opportunity to help build a pool of high quality future recruits for our business. We get to look at the skills and commitment of the trainees, with the best of them securing opportunities to become full time apprentices.
“When you are interviewing young people who have no previous work experience, there is inevitably a high degree of luck in making the right decisions about the young people in front of you. Taking on trainees from the traineeship programme has seen us give opportunities to some individuals who may not have got through a straightforward interview. But being able to see them over a period of weeks, to watch their levels of commitment, see them turn up on time for work every day, observe them making a real effort to learn more each day and increase their effectiveness through genuine effort, makes huge sense to us and we’re delighted that we have been able to be a part of this scheme with JTL’s support.
“For those who make it and join us on full time apprenticeships after completing their traineeships, we look after the in-house apprenticeship aspects and JTL looks after assessments and provides additional support for us.”
JTL was one of the first training organisations to champion the Traineeship programme and Natasha Heritage has been responsible for delivery of the programme: “Time and time again, we are seeing young people who have no experience of working life, struggling in the employability stakes to be honest, but coming on one of our courses and growing as a person day by day, growing in confidence, becoming ever more responsible in their attitudes to work and keen to establish a career, learning how to communicate with each other and their seniors, until, at the end of the course, they are ready to take the next step on to a full time apprenticeship.”
JTL recently hosted a special event at its Aston Centre where six young men who had been through a traineeship course and been selected by Interserve to progress onto a full time employed apprenticeship course, received certificates of achievement for their outstanding efforts.
The six individuals to receive certificates were Faisal Khan, Daniel Kennedy and Joseph Hammond – all now working as electrical installation apprentices, Daniel Beck – now working as a heating and ventilation apprentice, and Mitchell McMahon and Jack Lewis now working as plumbing apprentices.
For more information, visit: www.jtltraining.com
