Do you still need convincing about Apprenticeships?

Parents still view Apprenticeships as less important for their offspring than attending university, according to new research from Demos. The study, produced for ACCA, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, has shown that although parents are becoming more supportive on the question of Apprenticeships, the perception is still very much that it’s the less academic route and therefore lesser in general.

A recent BBC article also supports the widely held view that too few young people are taking the Apprenticeship route. This is in spite of increased national funding and apparent universal support for Apprenticeships from all political parties and across the spectrum of national newspapers. Take your pick from these two examples:

Debt free at 23 and on a £30k salary in the Daily Telegraph.

Apprenticeships vs. university from the Guardian.

Finding your Apprenticeship

The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) has launched two new websites which aim to be "one stop shops" for young people interested in an Apprenticeship or a Traineeship:

They are: Find an Apprenticeship and Find a Traineeship. The sites explain what the courses are and guide you through the application process.

As well as these national sites, you can also visit the Hertfordshire Youth Connexions site for Apprenticeships here which collects together a range of guidance information as well as posting current Apprenticeship opportunities available locally.

Boost your CV with "soft skills"

A recent article in the Guardian newspaper argues the importance of so-called "soft skills" in making your CV stand out from the rest. 

'In an increasingly competitive job market, where there are often dozens of applicants for every vacancy, companies are looking for stand-out candidates. First impressions count, so a CV or application form is sometimes the only chance a job-seeker will have to grab an employer's interest and bag themselves an interview.

So, how do you make sure your CV excites a boss and doesn't get lost in the keep-on-file pile?'

Read the full article here.

I.T. sector is booming

The number of IT companies in the UK rose by 15,000 last year to 321,000 in 2014, as the boom in ‘app’ and ‘FinTech’ companies’ drives business creation. The contribution of the ‘app economy’ to the UK is estimated at £4bn and is expected to rise to £31 billion by 2025. The ‘app economy’ is centred around London’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’, who host many household names and influential start-ups, including King Digital, creators of Candy Crush, which recently announced quarterly revenues of $496 million.

More Apprenticeships available

There has been a 28% year on year increase in the numbers of new Apprenticeship opportunities posted online on the Apprenticeship vacancies website Apprenticeships.gov. There was a strong rise in the number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) Apprenticeships, with vacancies for Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies and Information and Communication Technology rising by 23%. The greatest number of vacancies were for Business, Administration and Law Apprenticeships (18,940), whilst Health, Public Services and Care Apprenticeships saw the biggest rise, with an increase of 50%.  [ source: GTAssociates ]

Technology blamed for applicants' poor interview skills

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays, has said that many youngsters turn up for interviews lacking basic social skills, and that, “There is the danger that we will have a lost generation of youngsters if we do not help them develop the skills they will need for the new world of work. These include analytical and financial abilities, but also, and this is crucial, they include people skills. It seems basic stuff: how to shake someone’s hand, look them in the eye and hold your shoulders back.” He called on parents, teachers and bosses to help youngsters gain the social confidence they need to compete in the global jobs market, saying, “In the workplaces of the future collaboration will be very important. The question of how to teach this generation to be successful is very important.”

He said that the amount of time teenagers spent looking at laptop and smartphone screens was partly to blame for their lack of social confidence, saying, “A lot of interaction for them now is on social media. It’s a very effective form of communication but it’s a two-dimensional form of communication.” He said that he had learnt how to engage with people when he was still a schoolboy by working on Saturdays. “I used to work in a corner shop and a petrol station when I was the age these kids are now. I learnt about serving customers and taking money and the importance of showing up on time.” However, he said that such jobs were much more difficult to find today. According to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, the percentage of teens combining part-time jobs with school/college has dropped from 40% in the 1990s to 20% in 2012.

Find Apprenticeships locally

There are plenty of websites offering a fast route to finding an Apprenticeship and here's one more to add to the growing list: CareerMap is quick and simple to use. You enter your postcode and it generates a map showing the locations of the nearest Apprenticeship opportunities, colour-coded by type. By clicking on each icon, you can get more details of the Apprenticeship with a quick link to making an application. You'll need an up to date CV which you can attach electronically.