What to look for

With so many IT apprenticeships on offer, make sure you choose one that gives you the skills and support you need to get your career off to the best possible start. Here’s what to look out for:

1. Who will I be working for?

Some training providers advertise for apprentices before they’ve secured a job for them with an employer. This means you could start your off-the-job training, but not be working or earning a wage.

To avoid this, make sure you ask the training provider about the employer you’ll be working for and when you can expect to start.

2. What will my job be?

An apprenticeship should give you the technical, interpersonal and business skills you need to do a specific job once your apprenticeship is complete. Make sure you ask what this job is, to ensure you’ll be doing something that you’re interested in and suited to, and not just taking a general IT apprenticeship. Gaining the skills to do a specific job will help your long term employability and career prospects.

3. What support will I get?

If you’re leaving school and entering the world of work for the first time, it can be a daunting experience. So ask about the support you’ll get from both your training provider and employer.

For example, will you have a personal training plan or a dedicated line manager or mentor, to help you settle in? Will you get help to develop your self-confidence and communication skills, as well as learning about technology? Employers are looking for well-rounded individuals today.

4. Will my apprenticeship be good quality?

It’s worth checking the quality of the apprenticeships that your training provider and/or employer currently provide. You can do this in a couple of ways:

  • Ofsted inspects apprenticeship training providers like it does with schools, so you could search for a recent inspection report
  • Finally, you could ask how many apprentices continue to work for the employer after their training has finished.

Apprenticeships