Josh Uwadiae is one of the many young people opting for an apprenticeship over university. In this post, he discusses why he decided to take a vocational route into the IT sector.
“The cliché is to finish college and go straight into work or university but QA Apprenticeships was offering me an opportunity to gain a qualification that employers really want – Microsoft Certification. The guarantee of finding a placement instead of competing with hundreds of candidates for a job, being paid to study and work was the perfect way to start my IT career with the support of a company with several awards and recommendations.
“I secured a job with eCourier and my role is to offer first line support on desktops, laptops, Mobile and PDA Devices to all departments. My role is crucial to the business’s daily function and my PDA support is very influential to company revenue as computer technology is dependent upon PDA devices.”
“My confidence has improved during my apprenticeship as I have seen my ability to communicate develop through dealing with people on a daily basis. I also receive regular support from my manager in the workplace and also from the staff at QA. I have been a pro-active ambassador for the apprenticeship scheme through recommending apprenticeships to my friends and also being actively involved in my company’s ambassadorial events by featuring in their apprentice newsletter and writing a case study about my reasons for choosing apprenticeships over university. I have also been an independent ambassador through leasing with an education alumni company known as Future First and going back to my secondary school to recommend apprenticeships through sharing my career journey.”
