Star Comment: Working towards a career with apprenticeships
In what you might call the glory days of universities, many young adults would study with varying degrees of assiduity and emerge at the end with good or mediocre degrees in a wide range of generalist subjects of no practical value in the world of work.
They went to university because they could, and chose their degrees to keep their options open rather than in pursuit of any particular career path.
While jobs were relatively plentiful, this did not matter so much. But in today's times of high unemployment you are in a better position if you can show an employer that you are committed and either have relevant skills or are acquiring them.
See also: Apprenticeships in spotlight for young at Shropshire event
Apprenticeships have made a comeback. They were once considered rather old-fashioned, but are once again being embraced by employers and apprentices alike. Events held by County Training, part of Shropshire Council, are spreading the word about the benefits of apprenticeships.
There are pros and cons to being an apprentice. The pay for those aged 16 to 18 can be as low as £2.68 an hour. On the other hand there are different levels of apprenticeship which offer various tiers of qualifications.
Then there are the traditional pluses of on-the-job training working alongside experienced staff which has proven so valuable for generations of apprentices over the years and has produced skilled workers who don't just know how to do the job, but understand the job, know all the nuances and tricks, and have the capability to improvise.
For employers apprentices are an investment. They need commitment, because taking on an apprentice is the beginning of the process, not the end.
If the apprentice is not to be a useless passenger he or she has to be mentored, instructed and supervised, which is going to be tough going in a enterprise which may have been pared down to the bone in terms of staff and where all those still in work have little or no time to spare.
And lastly, for the Government, the cynical would say there is a political benefit in that each apprentice is one less person appearing in the unemployment figures. While the resurgence of apprenticeships is welcome, they have to be made worthwhile for all those involved in the process.
A successful apprenticeship scheme involves a lot of work all round.
