• • • TRAINING APPRENTICESHIP• • • Are apprenticeships the
future of engineering? By Casey Porter, editor of Electrical Engineering magazine
earching for careers in the engineering sector can be difficult and confusing. The common assumption among young people, is that university is the only path towards a career in engineering, meaning many young people become put off the idea of pursing any other routes. For my first article in Electrical Engineering magazine, I had the privilege of speaking with two extremely gifted young women, I discussed with them their experiences with engineering apprenticeships, in an effort to further understand the world of apprenticeships.
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I first sat down to speak with Alexia Williams, a Through-life Engineering Services Specialist Master’s Degree apprentice, and then Santina Bunting, a Level 6 Civil Engineering Degree apprentice.
Why people are considering apprenticeships over other routes
Whilst speaking with Santina and Alexia, I wanted to delve straight into why they made the choice to go down one route over another. Santina explained to me, “Engineering is very practical, it’s very hands on, I think that doing an apprenticeship will be the best way in order to gain those skills and also continue my theoretical education.”
On asking Santina what her route into apprenticeships was, she went on to tell to me, “After finishing my GCSEs, I was the only one out of 150 students to do an apprenticeship after year eleven, and that was starting my level three Civil Engineering apprenticeship at Arup.” I asked the same of Alexia who mentioned,“I went to the ‘Royal Bath & West Show.’ They had an imagineering tent, which was aimed at students learning about what working in STEM involves … We ended up speaking with someone who had gone down the university route who said, ‘If I’d known about apprenticeships, I would have one hundred percent done that option, if I had my time again.” They also stated that “the apprentice is now in a full-time role, two years earlier than me. He’s got no student debt and he’s been earning since he came into the business, so I said, oh right, this sounds like a way better option.” It is a recurring theme I have seen for students to not realise that they were able to come into the industry sooner than a university graduate which, upon realising this, can sway the young-people towards an avenue that gets them to their goal quicker.
Why choose an engineering
apprenticeship? To better understand why an engineering apprenticeship route may be more beneficial to a young prospect, I asked Santina what it was that drew her to a career in engineering, specifically. She replied that it was, “The thought of knowing I can have a real-life impact on projects… engineering is so broad, I like the versatility of it.” She said, “A lot of people when they’ve done an engineering degree, it can lead them down so many different paths. If I was talking to a younger person who is interested in engineering, I would say definitely look at apprenticeships because you’re working on real projects from the get go
Santina Bunting
and you’re still getting that theoretical knowledge taught at a university.”
Alexia noted, “I enjoyed the hands-on aspect of it and how things worked, and I knew I sort of enjoyed Maths, but my favourite subject was Design and Technology at school, I think that’s where it all stemmed from.”
Alexia also spoke on the skills shortage and why people should start discussing engineering apprenticeships. “We should open the doors to engineering. There is a huge skills shortage, but so many people would actually be good at engineering if they considered people from a wider background that were good at problem solving, or have good people skills and a keenness for solving issues.”
44 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • SEPTEMBER 2024
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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