Posted by Ben Waters
From Apprentice to Employee. Acronyms share the value of ‘growing your own’
As a company, Acronyms already know just how valuable and cost-effective ICT apprenticeships can be. Not just in terms of growing and developing its team but also as part of its overall recruitment strategy.
One of the existing Acronyms team is a former BIT apprenticeship candidate and has proved to be a hugely positive addition to the team. Having chosen not to go down the ‘university route’, this candidate qualified and is now a 2nd Line Engineer while his peers are probably only just leaving education and are quite possibly shouldered with the burden of a student debt.
When it comes to apprenticeships, BIT Training are there to help businesses get started, providing them with expert knowledge in the Digital, IT or Cyber Security sectors.
Apprenticeships aren’t just about training. If you go deeper, you will find that a growing number of company competitors are now putting individuals on apprenticeship programmes to secure the very latest IT vendor qualifications, which in turn gives them the competitive edge.
When it comes to funding apprenticeships, there are a number of assisted options. Larger, ‘levy’ paying employers can use their ‘levy pots’ to help fund the training. While small and medium sized businesses which are non-levy paying can access government funding which can cover 95% of all training costs. But if your apprentice is aged between 19-24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) from their local authority, then the government support can end up covering 100% of training costs.
Whatever funding approach is taken, apprenticeships remain one of the smartest ways of developing a business.
Commenting on the experience Frazer Lloyd-Davies from Acronyms said: “Apprentices can create a steady, cost-effective recruitment stream, especially when you consider the funding support that’s available. We consider it to be a middle ground, somewhere between education and full employment as it enables us to mould raw candidates into full employees within the framework that BIT Training offers.”
Upskilling or recruiting apprentices demonstrates the value that your organisation places on developing talent. If you’re looking to futureproof your business then consider an IT apprentice and if you’re looking for a logical starting point, then talk to us at BIT Training.