FUTURE TALENTED Spring Term 2019 - Issue 2 | Page 36

Gatsby Benchmarks
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explaining to customers how to use
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them. No matter what you do, there is
an element of customer service in any
job, so you have to have soft skills.
I think these are the skills that young
people lack. Often, when we take 16
year-olds on as apprentices, they find
it difficult to sit an interview as they
simply don’t have the confidence.
Do we need to help students
understand careers better?
TB: Young adults in Years 10 and 11 need
to understand the jobs that different
subjects can lead to. If you ask a 15 year-
old “what job do you want to do?”, only
a small percentage will know. We need
kids to know at a younger age how the
subjects they study relate to jobs.
That can only be done through
schools, employers and government
partnering together.
SR: Schools are under a lot of pressure
to deliver, so we’re happy to help. Our
Energise Anything programme for
schools is online, accessible to all and
free. We’ve designed all the content
with education specialists and got
feedback from teachers on our
interactive classroom activities, which
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are designed to get students thinking
about skills and careers.
We’ve also created activities pupils
can do at home. We were aware
that we were doing these great
classroom-based activities, but nothing
was happening after 3pm. These have
proven really popular.
How do your apprenticeship
schemes work?
TB: First, it’s important to note that our
apprenticeship schemes are open to
all ages and also to our existing
employees. We offer several
apprenticeships in both engineering
and customer service, but the challenge
is still around changing perceptions. I
know some schools think that if a child
is clever they have to go to university,
but so many organisations offer
apprenticeships with a degree at the
end of it, which gives you the
qualification without the debt.
I understand that schools are
measured in terms of qualifications at
the moment, so I think government
needs to help out here. For me, a
successful outcome is about where a
child ends up after education. If you
have 10 GCSEs but no job, is that
ZOE FINCH – DUAL FUEL SMART METER ENGINEER
Zoe, 27, from Basildon, Essex,
was the first female
engineering apprentice to
achieve the Level 2 Dual Fuel
Smart Meter Installer
Apprenticeship Standard
in England.
I used to own and run a catering
van selling sandwiches and
other food, but realised I wanted
to try my hand at something
n e w. I a p p l i e d f o r t h e
apprenticeship scheme as I
thought it was the best way to
start a career in something I
36 // ROUTES INTO WORK
knew I’d enjoy. I’d always been
interested in working with
electrics, so when this
opportunity came up I couldn’t
have been happier.
All I’ve learned and
experienced will prove valuable
in the future. I’m always looking
to enhance the skills I already
have and to learn and
experience new things, so my
future at E.ON could hold many
possibilities for me. I’d like to be
a tech specialist once I’ve gained
enough experience and
become the best at what I do.
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