National Apprenticeship Week, now in its 16th year, is an annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships. The week brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses and the wider economy.
Train, retain and achieve
Becoming an apprentice allows young people to increase their confidence, skills, knowledge and start them off to some incredible careers, but from a business perspective, there are just as many benefits to employing an apprentice.
The growing skills gap in the engineering industry is a worry. Offering an apprenticeship helps fill the skills gaps, upskill and revitalise the workforce to ensure the business is future proof and future ready.
National Apprenticeship Week at JCA
At JCA, we are passionate about what we do and the diversity of our people. We support apprenticeships as they assist our talent strategy and allow us to recruit, retain and develop those who want to progress their careers and be equipped with skills for life. We ensure that both the educational and work activities are planned well in advance for our apprentices, so that joining us is a great experience.
Introducing apprentices to all areas of the business and ensuring that all expectations are achieved are vital in the first few months to continue with the development of our new employees. It is a momentous journey and a great opportunity, so we heavily invest our time and resources to create the best possible outcomes for our apprentices.
We have been working on a development of a strategic plan for our apprenticeship programme. This will include appointing mentors to provide continued support to people throughout their apprenticeships, as well as appointing buddies who can provide on the job training to help develop specific skills. The plan will also provide more detail around site placements, the apprenticeship cohort scheme and other supporting initiatives that will enhance the learning and development experience.
Meet our apprentices
To celebrate this year’s National Apprenticeship Week, we caught up with a few of our apprentices to find out what made them want to start an apprenticeship and how they’ve been enjoying it so far.
Meet Megan Thornton, Assistant Quantity Surveyor. Megan is in her fifth and final year of her quantity surveying and commercial management degree at the University of the West of England (UWE), working with our projects team.
“I chose to do a degree apprenticeship because gaining industry experience was equally important to me as gaining a degree. I knew that not only would I gain the technical knowledge and academic practice of a degree, but also soft skills such as decision making, communication and rapport building which are all essential for not only the workplace, but real life too. Although they are gaining in popularity now, degree apprenticeships are still far from the traditional route into professional positions. I found this back when I started applying for apprenticeships in 2018, when my parents were unsure whether this was a credible route into a career just like a full-time degree was. But after discussing the positives: leaving university with no debt, earning a competitive salary and invaluable on the job experience, it was clear that this was the right decision for me.
From the off, JCA has shown itself as a people orientated company. It was clear from the employee testimonials and the friendliness of everyone during the onboarding process, that this was a company I wanted to be a part of. It was important for me to find a company who had a genuine interest in their employees’ personal development and wanted to progress and support me within my role and education. It was actually a plus for me that JCA didn’t have a large apprenticeship programme as I wanted to feel like more than just a number, and JCA have done this through the endless support and guidance they have provided.
I really enjoy being a female apprentice within construction. Although at first it felt very daunting embarking on a career within such a male dominated industry, I have learnt to enjoy it and appreciate the more unusual position I am in. I have learnt that even though I work with very experienced and knowledgeable people who have been in the industry for a long time, I am still able to bring my own unique skill set and knowledge to be able to provide expertise on different areas. Being a young woman on a construction site means you are different to the usual site demographic, however I have now realised that the different perspectives and outlooks I provide are respected and welcomed as a key member of the team.”
Meet Daniel Jones. Daniel joined JCA in April last year as a Building Services Apprentice working at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.
“After passing my A-levels, I had to decide between an apprenticeship or university. I chose the apprenticeship route because you can earn whilst you learn. I chose to apply for an apprenticeship at JCA based on their extensive and professional portfolio. I saw the work that JCA carry out in a variety of sectors and I felt I could work to my full potential as part of the team.
I knew that I would be surrounded by a supportive group of people. Prior to starting my apprenticeship in April 2022, I had regular communication with the HR department and my managers. They were all very helpful in ensuring that I settled well into my new job role. The regular updates I received gave me a sense of great confidence that I was joining an outstanding company. I am thoroughly enjoying being an apprentice here at JCA. I love the fact that every working day is different, and I am facing new challenges all the time. I am working with a brilliant team of people at my site and I’m learning an incredible amount from them.
Working with experienced engineers is a vital part of my job role. By working closely with them and assisting their works, I am able to gain knowledge and understanding from their years of expertise. They all have their own specialities and I enjoy learning their wide range of skills. I have learnt about various aspects of engineering during my time. Boiler safety training was very interesting for me as I’d had limited prior knowledge about them, and it taught me a great deal. I have spent a lot of my time looking at ventilation at my site. From looking at the individual air handling units, the ductwork, testing air flows and carrying out the appropriate calculations that follow. The ventilation aspect has been fascinating to me.
In the future I would like to pass my college course and then progress further in the engineering industry. I would like to take my apprenticeship to a degree level and learn about other aspects of engineering within JCA.“
If you are interested in becoming an engineering apprentice or would like more information on the apprenticeships scheme, get in touch with us – careers@jca.co.uk
For current vacancies and opportunities, including apprenticeships, please visit our Careers page.
For more information about JCA and our services, head over to Our services section.
To find out more about apprenticeships, visit the government’s website – Apprenticeships.
