Apprentice proves career change is going in the right direction as he is the first to gain top qualification in his field.
One of these people building a career path through this route is Josh Easterbrook. He has praised apprenticeships after changing from a supermarket job to an MST improver with South West housing provider, LiveWest.
After studying carpentry at South Devon College, Josh, applied for a Multi Skilled Technician with LiveWest and has since excelled in the role.
The 27-year-old was made redundant in 2019 and thought he would give something different a go as it ran alongside his college course and since then, has not looked back.
He is now in the first cohort to complete the apprenticeship with a distinction along with his colleagues.
Josh, from Torquay, said: “I was quite happy just to pass so to come away with a distinction was amazing.”
“I thought it would be quite useful to learn a skill. But I didn’t really have any experience in it at all, so it’s been really good for me to learn from people I’ve been working with as I was starting from scratch.
“I’ve gained a lot of skills that I can take throughout life even just general repairs on my own home. It’s all worked out quite well and all fell into place after I got made redundant so that’s quite handy.”
The aspect of being able to learn on the job and receive training has been the biggest positive for Josh as LiveWest offers this but some companies may expect you to know more upon joining.
He added: “For the past few weeks, I’ve been installing bathrooms so it’s nice to leave with that satisfaction that you’ve made someone happy, and they’ve been grateful for the work that’s been done.
“I don’t think there are enough apprenticeships around because you’ve got to start somewhere but I was just fortunate to find somewhere good. I would like to learn more so I can gain more skills and move up to get a trade-specific role.”
There were six who started as apprentices along with Josh which he has found useful.
He added: “We all went to college together in the same week, to actually learn with people from the same company which was great experience as you could all talk afterwards and if you were struggling with coursework, you could talk it through.”
