Chesterfield College event celebrates apprenticeships and showcases different career opportunities on offer

The college hosted an Apprenticeship Careers Fair on Wednesday, February 9, to coincide with annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships – its first since before the beginning of the pandemic.

Employers from a range of sectors attended the event and were on hand to offer apprenticeship advice and to talk about opportunities open to those thinking about becoming an apprentice.

The Chesterfield College Group supports over 3,500 apprentices a year, working with hundreds of employers across a range of industries from care to construction and engineering to education.

Leah Shortt, head of student and apprentice services at Chesterfield College said: “Apprenticeships provide a great alternative to full-time learning and potentially university. They are really important to us.

"We partner with a broad range of companies and organisations, from the likes of Chesterfield Royal Hospital which are part of the NHS Trust; Tarmac, which are a huge engineering company; to small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs), your more local employers such as plumbers and electricians.

"Anyone over the age of 16 and living in England can do an apprenticeship. There’s no upper age limit. All you need is a keen interest to build your future.”

Running until February 11, the theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week is ‘build the future, with businesses and apprentices across the country invited to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses, and the wider economy.

Cast iron specialists, United Cast Bar, regularly take on apprentices and were among the employers at the Chesterfield College event.

David Beet, relations manager at United Cast Bar in Chesterfield, said: “We feel that our future is apprentices. We’ve got a lot of people who are older; there’s not very many companies that do what we do and we’re the biggest in the world.

"We cannot get people with that experience and as such we have to bring people in and train them – and we’re doing more and more of that. My philosophy is, the experience of age and the ethusiasm of youth work together.”

Abi Lawson is currently on a Level 3 apprenticeship in Business Administration with United Cast Bar and explained why she chose to follow this route.

She said: “You can learn as well as earn money. It is a great way of building your skills, getting to know the business and getting some experience.

"It’s better than college I think because you’re gaining skills and it has allowed me to become more confident as I was quite shy at school. The people within this group are amazing, they take you like you’re one of their own staff.”

Josh Bown, partnerships account officer at Chesterfield College, also stressed the importance of apprenticeships, having originally started at the college as an apprentice himself.

When asked to give advice to those thinking of an apprenticeship, he added: “I would say definitely research what you’re looking to do. I think it’s always beneficial to get a clear idea of where you want to be in the future and work your way backwards.”

For more information on apprenticeships at Chesterfield College visit www.chesterfield.ac.uk/apprenticeships/.

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