I have a vacancy but no one wants to work!

littlerat

Hmmm my brother is 21 and was looking for an apprenticeship (well still looking but finally got an interview/test thing) a lot wouldn't take him on as he was over 19, this could be your first issue..

Secondly there were several he wanted to apply for but the cost of getting there left him with almost no money (or in some cases would've cost him more than he got), and a lot had provisions that you had to be available any day so couldn't even get a 2nd job. I'll also add many he looked at wanted 5 or even 6 days a week plus 1 day at college, which for £95/week.. if you're expecting every night, that could be a problem.

Thirdly, are you actually offering training that will lead to qualifications? If not it's not an apprenticeship. (Yes, seen a lot of these - or requiring previous experience)

The one my brother has applied to and an interview for has the 1st year just at a college, for which they pay £160 or so a week, the 2nd year when they start work is about minimum wage! If you're offering the bare minimum there are probably just better offers out there.

Are you advertising on the connextions website, apprenticeships.org website, they seem to be the 2 biggest.

bristol_pilot

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

How else do you think that chefs learn their trade if not by starting at the bottom and learning the basics?

Working in a pub kitchen is not a trade, anyone can do it. Proper chefs serve genuine apprenticeships in professional kitchens in London hotels and upmarket restaurants under the auspices of a head chef with a national or international reputation. Dishing out formula curry or microwave meals is not in the same league and not a 'skill' worth slaving away at £2 per hour to obtain.

krycek985

People keep banging on about £2.50 an hourreally need to get a grip.

I was an apprentice 2005/2009 and my first year got paid £2.50 and hour but I did get my training any extra training I wanted to do, all my tools paid for. After 4 years I got a huge wage rise and now get paid £25500 a year plus university paid for me.

To be honest at 16 or whatever age your starting your training what are you really going to do that of any real help. I know alot of younger boys going through the scheme who make mistakes costing a small fortunre in repairing and then reworking stuff. If they arent breaking stuff they are all chatting away about what !!!!!! they watch what car they like or what they will be doing at the weekend.




Sure I suffered on £2.50 an hour. Most of i going to travelling and lunches etc but looking back it was well worth every second.

bitsandpieces

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

What skills does a school leaver have to make him or her worth more than £2.50 per hour?

Having said that, I would expect the young person to be working towards a recognised qualification, preferably with college attendance, for it to be called an apprenticeship.

Working in a kitchen effectively and safely is hard. I wouldn't want to work with someone in that setting who wasn't hard-working (able to deal with the hours), had good attention to detail and could learn quickly. I do think that this would make them worth more than £2.50/hr

Of course, if the training's good people might choose to take the post for that reason.

bristol_pilot

krycek985 wrote: »

I was an apprentice 2005/2009 and my first year got paid £2.50 and hour but I did get my training any extra training I wanted to do, all my tools paid for. After 4 years I got a huge wage rise and now get paid £25500 a year plus university paid for me.

That sounds like a genuine apprenticeship then. What the OP has on offer is a no-skill job chucking out pub grub.

Quenastoise

I don't wish to comment whether an apprenticeship is appropriate for this particular employer.

However, I would point out that:

a) although I would be less than pleased at that age to be working for £ 2.50, it is the legal rate for apprenticeships. When youngsters do finish their NVQ, they automatically qualify for a higher rate, the minimum national rate if the employer doesn't want to be generous. There should be a clear understanding at the beginning of the apprenticeship that there will be/will not be a job available on qualification.

b) with youth unemployment high, there is some sense in getting some practical experience on the CV in order to get the next (better paid) job. Until not long ago, employers were finding it hard to find apprentices, now it tends to be youngsters not being able to find a placement.

c) with higher education being priced out of most people's budget (£9,000 tuition fees, anyone ?), we need to rethink vocational qualifcations as an alternative.

d) apprenticeships fill a training need for older learners (25+) who did not take that direction when younger but need to retrain for whatever reason. An older apprentice may be working as a volunteer (under Train to Gain) in a nursery in order to gain a level 2 in childcare.

e) a good employer does invest time, effort and cost in on-the-job training. That's one of the arguments used to justify the pitiful £2.50 ph

Oldernotwiser

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Working in a pub kitchen is not a trade, anyone can do it. Proper chefs serve genuine apprenticeships in professional kitchens in London hotels and upmarket restaurants under the auspices of a head chef with a national or international reputation. Dishing out formula curry or microwave meals is not in the same league and not a 'skill' worth slaving away at £2 per hour to obtain.

If your definition of a "proper apprenticeship" were true, there would only be a few handfuls of new chefs starting each year!

If the OP isn't offering proper training and a chance of a qualification then I would agree that it isn't a genuine apprenticeship but many pubs nowadays offer decent food, properly cooked by trained chefs.

I believe Jamie Oliver trained in his parents' pub.

Rockporkchop

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Working in a pub kitchen is not a trade, anyone can do it. Proper chefs serve genuine apprenticeships in professional kitchens in London hotels and upmarket restaurants under the auspices of a head chef with a national or international reputation. Dishing out formula curry or microwave meals is not in the same league and not a 'skill' worth slaving away at £2 per hour to obtain.

Indeed. And given that the OP was just a few months ago canvassing opinion as to whether people would prefer "proper chips or frozen ones" when they go out for meals, I am extremely dubious about the level of training that would be given.

Rockporkchop

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I believe Jamie Oliver trained in his parents' pub.

He helped out in his parents' pub when he was young but actually attended Westminster Catering College and trained at Neal's Yard restaurant.

Oldernotwiser

Rockporkchop wrote: »

He helped out in his parents' pub when he was young but actually attended Westminster Catering College and trained at Neal's Yard restaurant.

Thanks for the correction, which I appreciate.

However, it's still wrong to say that the only way to do a genuine catering apprenticeship is with a top London restaurant. (I know that it wasn't you who said this.)