Investing in young people.
Apprenticeships are work-based training Programmes, designed with channelcentral, which combine on and off the job learning and development activities. They are used to develop employees who are in new job roles including higher level roles. channelcentral is pleased to be able to offer an Apprenticeship Programme and have had several staff join as school leavers from age 16 onwards.
Apprenticeship Programmes are operated in collaboration with the government, training providers and employers and offer a blend of classroom training and workplace experience under an Apprenticeship Agreement. channelcentral work with the training provider to select and build the workplace modules to meet both the needs of the business and the academic/development demands of the formal Programme. Some modules are compulsory and some are discretionary or selected to meet a point level. Throughout the Programme, Apprentices are coached and mentored by an external assessor to build toward a formal qualification.
What are the benefits of an Apprenticeship Programme?
• Apprentice has structured training and work experience that adds to their employability
• channelcentral has the opportunity to train young people to do specific tasks and grow within the company
• Apprenticeships offer a more vocationally focused route for 16+ young workers than A levels or Uni/college, ideally suited to people who are less interested in academia
• Early productivity is common, a young person with the right attitude learns very quickly
Why consider an Apprenticeship Programme with channelcentral?
• There is availability for at least one apprentice per year and the business would hope to be able to offer successful apprentices a full time post
• Apprentices are paid more than the national minimum
• channelcentral is a growing company working with some of the most valuable brands in over 60 countries
• The teams are developing industry leading solutions such as Configure/ Price/ Quote Software
channelcentral has now been offering the Apprenticeship Programme for 4 years. We have had much success with the Programme and have been able to offer full time posts. David Clapp, a Product Manager for channelcentral has been through the Programme and has shared his thoughts:
“I went into Connexions in 2011 and was presented with a list of apprenticeships. I chose the channelcentral one as it was the role I was most interested in. I had learnt very quickly that employers look for experience when hiring, which is a problem when looking for your first full-time job. The Programme was the perfect way to gain this experience and learn new skills whilst getting it.
During the Apprenticeship I was given work to complete via an online portal and this was marked by an assessor. The assessor would come and visit me at channelcentral every 4 weeks, and put together a plan to be completed by their next visit. I would also have a health and safety review every 3 months.
The Apprenticeship Programme has benefitted me through being able to learn whilst on the job and gain the experience I need. I had more on my CV after I had completed the course which helps for future job searching. I learnt how to work in an office environment and new skills to apply them to the job I was doing.
I had a review once my Apprenticeship was completed and I was then offered a full-time job at channelcentral. I would definitely recommend the Apprenticeship Programme. It has been a big benefit to me personally.”
David is now enjoying a career in Product Management at channelcentral and has recently had a new Apprentice join his team. Louis Robson has been telling us, as someone who is new to the Programme, why it appealed to him:
“I heard about the channelcentral opportunity from a recruiting agent named 3aaa, who are based in Chelmsford and I was interested in doing the Programme as it offers me new skills.
After completing the Programme I will have learnt new skills relating to Product Management and gained knowledge in channelcentral Services such as iQuote and the products within it like Workstations, Laptops and Thin Clients. I would definitely recommend others to do this Programme – this is a very committed and determined company with a desire to succeed.”
channelcentral is now looking forward to supporting Louis through the rest of his Apprenticeship Programme with us and welcoming more Apprentices into the business in the future. For more information on careers at channelcentral visit our careers page.
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