A thousand Apprenticeship questions....(as an employer)

TooManyQ's

Hello, first time poster but long time lurker to the site. Please excuse me for more than using my quota of questions all in one go but I find the advice here invaluable to read so hoping some experts can help me.

I have been running my own business (Financial Advice/Mortgage Brokers) for several years and have always been a one man band. Business has been at a level for a while where I wish to take someone on for 2 reasons. 1) It will help increase productivity/build the business even further and 2) I really want to give someone young the opportunity that I wished I had, and get into this industry and build a good career for themselves. I always felt as a youngster that I had a bit of entrepreneurial flair and I wasted it for years. I want to find someone similar to what I was when I was young.

I have looked into Apprenticeships and find most of it a bit of a maze. I have the following questions and if anyone has any input I'd be very grateful:

1. Is there still a huge demand for Apprenticeships nowadays? I know the long term prospects but do 18 year olds go down this route knowing that their pay will be low, especially as it costs over £3 a pint now and this is all most want to do?!

2. Being a one man band and a fledgling small company, will I qualify to offer an Apprenticeship? My training will all be one to one as opposed to having a "training department" as such. Is this frowned upon?

3. Would I qualify for any grants to do this?

4. There seems to be (on Google) a huge amount of providers/recruiters offering much the same thing, aside from geography, how do I pinpoint who would be wise to use? Or is there an option to go it alone, find a recruit myself and pick a college local to me?

I'm just a bit lost I suppose. It's something I have been considering for possibly a year or two......then I get to this stage, realise it's a minefield and then end up not doing anything. If there are any experts in the field I'd be grateful for any input you can throw my way.

Thanks all.

Elfbert

Hiya,

My partner is an assessor for apprentices, so I asked him

He said the best thing for you to do is call the National Apprenticeship Service on 08000150600 who will help you out.

But basically, yes, you could offer someone that chance.

You could offer an apprenticeship in Business Admin or Providing Financial Services (which sounds more suitable?). The NAS will list your vacancy on their website to help you find someone (if you want) and you can get up to 5x £1500 grants to help out with your costs. (As in, you could have 5 apprentices, one after another, if you desired, and would get that grant each time. Or 5 all at the same time, but then you'd be well outnumbered!!)


Hope that helps!

emsywoo123

TooManyQ's wrote: »

Hello, first time poster but long time lurker to the site. Please excuse me for more than using my quota of questions all in one go but I find the advice here invaluable to read so hoping some experts can help me.

I have been running my own business (Financial Advice/Mortgage Brokers) for several years and have always been a one man band. Business has been at a level for a while where I wish to take someone on for 2 reasons. 1) It will help increase productivity/build the business even further and 2) I really want to give someone young the opportunity that I wished I had, and get into this industry and build a good career for themselves. I always felt as a youngster that I had a bit of entrepreneurial flair and I wasted it for years. I want to find someone similar to what I was when I was young.

I have looked into Apprenticeships and find most of it a bit of a maze. I have the following questions and if anyone has any input I'd be very grateful:

1. Is there still a huge demand for Apprenticeships nowadays? I know the long term prospects but do 18 year olds go down this route knowing that their pay will be low, especially as it costs over £3 a pint now and this is all most want to do?!

2. Being a one man band and a fledgling small company, will I qualify to offer an Apprenticeship? My training will all be one to one as opposed to having a "training department" as such. Is this frowned upon?

3. Would I qualify for any grants to do this?

4. There seems to be (on Google) a huge amount of providers/recruiters offering much the same thing, aside from geography, how do I pinpoint who would be wise to use? Or is there an option to go it alone, find a recruit myself and pick a college local to me?

I'm just a bit lost I suppose. It's something I have been considering for possibly a year or two......then I get to this stage, realise it's a minefield and then end up not doing anything. If there are any experts in the field I'd be grateful for any input you can throw my way.

Thanks all.

Hello and welcome to MSE

I am a Business Admin NVQ assessor for an FE college and have previously worked for a private training provider, so hope I can help!

1) Yes, I do not know about the rest of the UK, but in Kent, they are a very popular option.
2)Do you have premises? H&S is always my primary concern, if you are running it out of your dining room it will be a no from me Also linking to point 4..............We also have a very low tolerance for lone working (you can go to the loo :rotfl: ) but apprentices should be supervised.
3) Yes, potentially, but these change frequently and some are area dependent, but a good provider should be able to advise you.
4) I may be biased, but........in your shoes I would approach your local college. Off the job training is even more important with small companies, and therefore day release will add value for you and the apprentice. Delivering everything in house from a private training provider can have real drawbacks with small companies.

It is worth noting this is general guidance and each provider will have their own rules and guidelines as well.

emsywoo123

Elfbert wrote: »

Hiya,


You could offer an apprenticeship in Business Admin or Providing Financial Services (which sounds more suitable?). The NAS will list your vacancy on their website to help you find someone (if you want) and you can get up to 5x £1500 grants to help out with your costs. (As in, you could have 5 apprentices, one after another, if you desired, and would get that grant each time. Or 5 all at the same time, but then you'd be well outnumbered!!)


Hope that helps!

More apprentices than employees!? I think not

NAS will advertise, or some providers will. We as a college advertise in house as well as NAS, I believe nearly all colleges do.

If you qualify for the £1500 grant, you do not get it in one go. Usually it is about a third of the way through for 50% of it, then the rest towards the end.

TooManyQ's

Thank you both so much for such a quick reply.

The grant thing is certainly not the be all and end all for me, but if I qualified for it I'd happily accept it.......and the two courses mentioned in the first reply are the exact two courses I have found through my own research so it makes me feel a bit happier knowing that I'm doing something right!

I do have an office, I actually share it with someone who does the exact same job as me, BUT we both run our own businesses. At some point we are likely to join forces but there is lots of red tape that I won't go into before that happens. We have discussed sharing an Apprentice and therefore sharing the time/costs/training but it's mainly me doing the legwork at this stage.

So as I understand it, I can advertise for someone via the NAS and the local college. However, what if my local college do not offer the courses above that I think would be wise to go down? How do I find the nearest college to me that will offer these courses? This is the bit I am a bit lost on. I have found several recruiters that offer a college course in house but I would rather go direct to the college and avoid a recruiter if possible......I think.....!

daytona0

TooManyQ's wrote: »

1. Is there still a huge demand for Apprenticeships nowadays? I know the long term prospects but do 18 year olds go down this route knowing that their pay will be low, especially as it costs over £3 a pint now and this is all most want to do?!

Well it depends on what your business is and what kind of 18 year olds you want...

I've worked with very young apprentices who have worked and then spent their small amount of wages on alcohol and drugs (doing odd jobs on the side too). I've also worked with conscientious 18 year olds who are looking to go places in their field.

So you need to figure out which one you want, because if you're talking about pint money (haha £3 a pint, you Londoners have it tough!) then you'll end up with pint people. If you want decent 18 year olds then you need to offer something pretty solid.

2. Being a one man band and a fledgling small company, will I qualify to offer an Apprenticeship? My training will all be one to one as opposed to having a "training department" as such. Is this frowned upon?

Not too sure on this

I would say, however, that you can possibly offer part time positions and pay min wage (you'll end up paying the same) if you don't qualify for apprenticeships. That will certainly give someone an opportunity....

3. Would I qualify for any grants to do this?

no idea sorry

4. There seems to be (on Google) a huge amount of providers/recruiters offering much the same thing, aside from geography, how do I pinpoint who would be wise to use? Or is there an option to go it alone, find a recruit myself and pick a college local to me?

again, no idea sorry.

I'm just a bit lost I suppose. It's something I have been considering for possibly a year or two......then I get to this stage, realise it's a minefield and then end up not doing anything. If there are any experts in the field I'd be grateful for any input you can throw my way.

Thanks all.

Certainly not an expert so don't take my post as gospel, but I like how you're talking about helping a young person out.

emsywoo123

TooManyQ's wrote: »

Thank you both so much for such a quick reply.

The grant thing is certainly not the be all and end all for me, but if I qualified for it I'd happily accept it.......and the two courses mentioned in the first reply are the exact two courses I have found through my own research so it makes me feel a bit happier knowing that I'm doing something right!

I do have an office, I actually share it with someone who does the exact same job as me, BUT we both run our own businesses. At some point we are likely to join forces but there is lots of red tape that I won't go into before that happens. We have discussed sharing an Apprentice and therefore sharing the time/costs/training but it's mainly me doing the legwork at this stage.

So as I understand it, I can advertise for someone via the NAS and the local college. However, what if my local college do not offer the courses above that I think would be wise to go down? How do I find the nearest college to me that will offer these courses? This is the bit I am a bit lost on. I have found several recruiters that offer a college course in house but I would rather go direct to the college and avoid a recruiter if possible......I think.....!

A recruiter will charge you, a college will not charge to advertise for an apprentice. I would always try to avoid those finders fees whichever route you take!

Have a look on your local college website, they should have an apprenticeship area online, or give them a call. They will list the apps they offer. Admin will always be offered (unless it is a trade college) but more specialised pathways might require a conversation!

TooManyQ's

I'm not in London! (about 60 miles away) And yes, I certainly would like someone who has a career in mind rather than trying to earn a few quid to go out at the weekend. Thanks again, I'll speak to my local college and see what they have to say for themselves.

emsywoo123

TooManyQ's wrote: »

I'm not in London! (about 60 miles away) And yes, I certainly would like someone who has a career in mind rather than trying to earn a few quid to go out at the weekend. Thanks again, I'll speak to my local college and see what they have to say for themselves.

Good luck, and if you have any more questions, pop back on here or PM me.

I should point out I am not secretly being sponsored by the government to promote apprenticeships :rotfl: I just believe in them, what they are for, and in my students.

TooManyQ's

Thank you. Hearing that kind of thing from someone who knows about them certainly makes me feel a bit better. I like to hear good news stories. I will probably back in touch very soon!

Elfbert

emsywoo123 wrote: »

More apprentices than employees!? I think not

NAS will advertise, or some providers will. We as a college advertise in house as well as NAS, I believe nearly all colleges do.

If you qualify for the £1500 grant, you do not get it in one go. Usually it is about a third of the way through for 50% of it, then the rest towards the end.

Yes! I didn't mean to imply there should be more apprentices to outnumber the employer - it was more for other people potentially reading the thread who worked for larger companies - didn't want them thinking they could only have one at a time. I realise it didn't read that way.

And my OH did say about the grant being paid in stages, but I forgot to put that bit in He should sign up here himself, really!