Developing a workforce that's equipped with both the required skills and personal attributes that fit your company’s culture, ethics and way of working is key to the long-term success of Gloucestershire engineering businesses.
And that's where one of the county's leading independent training providers, Gloucestershire Engineering Training (GET), excels – supporting recruits of all ages to gain the skills they need to thrive in the workplace, through its provision of high-quality apprenticeship training.
SoGlos explores the process of taking on an apprentice with GET, the skills they acquire through its available courses and pathways, and how the training provider supports both parties throughout, to ensure the partnership's success.
Recruiting and employing an apprentice with GET
In recruiting apprentices, employers bring productive and enthusiastic people into their organisation, motivated by the opportunity to gain real-world, on-the-job experience, and earn while they learn.
GET supports employers throughout the recruitment process, helping to identify the right apprenticeship pathway for both parties, offering initial assessments and support with all associated administration and access to funding.
Apprentices gain underpinning foundation training at GET's Barnwood learning centre in year one, and once complete, the training provider then supports the transition into company assessing and training to be carried out in the workplace.
Level 3 and 4 apprenticeships offered by Gloucestershire Engineering Training
GET's Level 3 and 4 courses cover skills relevant to a range of sectors from aviation, oil and gas, and automotive, to medical technology, metrology and sustainability.
Engineering and Manufacturing Support Technician Level 3 equips apprentices with the technical expertise in engineering and manufacturing needed to support the work of engineers, in areas from engineering drawing, computer aided design (CAD), and quality control, to robotics, software development and process engineering.
Its Machining Technician Level 3 course provides training in producing complex and precision machined components from metal or specialist materials, using conventional or CNC machine tools, for use in a wide range of machinery from medical equipment, to aeroplanes.
Apprentices on its Mechatronics Maintenance Technician Level 3 course will learn how to carry out a broad range of activities relating to complex automated equipment, such as installation, testing, fault finding, rectification, modifications, and ongoing maintenance.
Engineering Fitter Level 3 provides the skills needed to produce high-value, complex components and assemblies such as turbines, cranes, gearboxes, production lines, rigs and platforms, in full or part, using machines, equipment or systems to a required specification.
In Metal Fabricator Level 3, apprentices learn how to carry out metal fabrication work using things like rolled steel joists, columns, channels, steel plate and metal sheet.
Engineering Manufacturing Technician Level 4 equips apprentices with the know-how to be able to provide specialist technical support for manufacturing engineers, so that organisations can develop, produce or test new and existing products, processes, or procedures to meet a customer specification in terms of quality, cost, and delivery, through gathering and analysing information and data from a range of sources.
While its Lead Engineering Maintenance Technician Level 4 course equips learners with the knowledge they need to provide engineering support, technical leadership, and expertise, such as installation, refit, overhaul, alteration, upgrading, design, and maintenance, for a range of sectors from maritime defence, to automotive and energy.
Year-round support for employers
Outside of the delivery of training, GET provides ongoing support for employers throughout the academic year, from regular reviews of its processes and curriculum, to mentoring and lifestyle and wellbeing-focused enrichment.
From the get-go, new employers are given guidance on the apprenticeship standards that would suit their businesses, as well as how apprenticeship funding works.
Employers which then partner with GET are invited to briefing sessions two or three times a year, where they can learn of any changes it needs to share, get the latest updates on the progress of their learners, and connect with other employers from across its network.
It provides enrichment sessions throughout the academic year, where internal and external speakers give talks and presentations to apprentices about a range of wellbeing and work-related topics, from how to stay safe during party season, gambling awareness and sexual harassment, to 'Blue Monday' and resilience, and dealing with income tax.
GET also sends out an employer survey to ask for feedback, which informs regular reviews of its processes with a view to making improvements; and hosts curriculum and mentor sessions, where employers are invited in to go through the curriculum per standard, give their input and share best practices with the employer partners network.
And each year, GET celebrates the success of its learners at a presentation evening, which features first year categories such as Best Welder and Most Improved Apprentice, with the top apprentice, HNC and HND achievers of the year also honoured.
To find out more about the apprenticeships offered by GET, and the advantages for employers, head to get-trained.org.
