Modern Apprenticeships

[Punky]

does anyone know if Modern Apprenticeships are any good? i've sent off for an info pack on the IT options, but i wanna know if its worth doing or not?

[Shad]

They're f****** fantastic mate!

Uni is a mugs game - why build a debt with only the chance of a decent job at the end of a 2/3/4 year slog, when you can start now on a decent salary working towards a real world qualification doing REAL work!

However, IT is hard to get into especially for MA's. There are so few people taking the programming apprenticeship course that I'm on that I have to travel 120mile round trip to get to the college. But the pay rocks and the experience of real world work that you gain is simply invaluable. As soon as an IT practitioner can prove they can walk the walk as well as talking the talk, they are worth muchos £££

Get in touch with your local training office and they'll get you started. West Berkshire Training Consortium (WBTC) is organising everything for me, bloody fantastic

Thumbs up to Modern Apprenticeships!

[Punky]

cheers mate. i've been thinking about the prgramming or design aspects of them, they sound interestin. i'll have to do some research first though.

[Lead_Head]

Some are not worth the paper they are written on :/

Nick

[Shad]

True that some are not that good. But the shear fact you've had 2+ years of experience doing real work in a real job, AS WELL as doing an NVQ or diploma, will generally stand you in good stead for the future.

I'm doing a 2 year 'diploma for I.T. practitioners in software development' at Banbury College (when they get their act together), starting on £10k rising to £20k by the end of the 2 years. I was lucky in that the small company I worked part time with offered me a good deal, and of course lucky that they're a fantastic bunch of people, totally down to earth.

Can you tell I'm enjoying it?

...and then of course, you can buy one of these




cha ching

[Lead_Head]

Anymore info on these apprenticeships?

Any websites? Yours sounds good Shad, what qualifications / terms are there?

Kind Regards

Nick

[Shad]

http://www.edexcel.org.uk/qualificat....aspx?id=45598

That's the course I'm doing. As you can see from the Edexcel website alone, there are loads available (if you can find a college/uni doing them). It's usually either a day release from your place of work or 2 evenings a week for 2-4 years. The terms are that you turn up and do the work, simple as that.

Your employer will recieve a Government Grant apparently to help cover costs. You can find out lots of information from your local careers advice centre or training council. Have a look in Yellow Pages.

[Gubbage]

i start a modern apprenticeship as an electronic technician on the 1st http://www.ecitb.org.uk

[Swafe]

Originally posted by Lead_Head
Some are not worth the paper they are written on :/

Nick

he has a point, plus they have to right to pay u under minimum wage, my mates doing electronic in telecomms, getting 7k a year, after 2 years he has.....jack shnitzel

hes spent it all as hes hardly got any money, and hes always goin into his overdraft and selling stuff to fund beers nights



whoever said unis a mugs game, your right, now money for 5 or so more years than an apprentice and then f*ck loads of debt but look at it like this, its wortyh the debt, your gonna be partying all the time, and your surrounded by ladies, i cant wait, even if i get into debt ITS GOING TO BE WORTH IT

plus once you have a degree you can do ANYTHING, even if its nothing to do with what youve studied, im thinking of a chemistry degree next year as i kick ass at it, and the reason behind that is most emplyers with give me 20K a year starting pay with no hassel even if its nout to do with chemsitry, im not getting it as i want to be a chemist, even tho that ould be a good profession, its more a certificate to prove your a complete smart arse.

[THCi]

Is there anybody on here who has actually done one, then gone in to full time work as a result. Maybe in the ITAdmin area? or the Tech Support roles?

Its interesting to me, as I think it can be used as a spring board into full time work.

Its quite a different approach to Uni, as you go in, come out a smat ar*e, then try and get work, without much experience within the field. But, here you go in, come out with experience in the field of study, and you're already employed.

Is it good, or bad, or what? Am I being delusional, as per normal?

[Swafe]

my mate has almost finished his, hes not guaranteed a job at the end, but he gets on well with the boss so i dont see why he shouldnt, buts he not going to

he wants to quit as he hates it, wants to join the police force and get 20 odd K, not because he wants to be a policeman, because he wants lots of money and his appretership aint givin it him

[Punky]

i'm waiting for the info pack to come through, then i'm gonna go see a careers advisor to see what's going to be the best for me.

[tonicblue]

I thought you wanted some qualifications in Pyrotechnics or was that just the weed talking, You looked pretty stoned at the time.
Im starting to miss computer Science lessons

[Punky]

yeh, those lessons were cool, with Ken's annecdotes, each one starting with 'when i was in a rock band in the 60's and 70's.....' kept us amused for ages, as did ripping it outta Mike Scott. ah well. the pyrotechnics would be fun, but i'd end up blowing myself to bits.

[TomWilko]

I think IT can end up relying on the person you are more than anything. It gets to the point where lots of people know lots of things, its who can translate what they know into productive skills, this is where work based and a degree both are pretty similar. A degree gives you that guaranteed structure of what to learn, wheras a vocational couse will teach you skills on the way...

Thats my opinion anyway.

[Shad]

Re getting a job after an apprenticeship... it varies from company to company but my contract stipulates that there will be a full time post-apprenticeship position for me when I've finished the course. But I wouldn't be too fussed if there wasn't as I'd be trained and experienced and easy to employ. Experience of the job counts for a lot these days.

A few of my friends are doing engineering type courses at AWE and they're bee saying the guys that come in from uni know all technical stuff, they can do all the paper work, but cant do machine work for love nor money, simply because they're not experienced.

Swafeman... not sure why I'd suddenly arrive in "f*ck loads of debt" when I've finished my apprenticeship. I'd rather avoid the numerous years of student loan, crappy Burger King job and the general achademic life - 13 years of that was enough.

Each to their own I guess. It's a good thing, THCi