Apprenticeship: Application Process

Student Support Booklet

(2015 – 2016)

Levels

Apprenticeship Level Education Level Equivalent Intermediate 2 5 GCSEs (grades A – C)

Advanced 3 2 A Levels (grade) (This varies some companies will look for 3 A levels. Engineering companies ask for A grade in Physics and Maths)

Higher 4 Certificate of higher education

5 Diploma of higher education

6 Bachelor’s degree

7 Post graduate/ Master’s degree

Why Chose an Apprenticeship

• An alternative route to highly skilled roles in exciting organisations and sectors

• A nationally recognised qualification equivalent to higher education fully funded!

• Paid work experience alongside studying

• A strong foundation to build Higher Education and studying towards professionally qualified status

• Transferable skills for career progression

• Nationally – 75% of Apprentices are taken on permanently by the same employer

Top higher apprenticeships are in IT, Accounting,

Science Engineering & Law

When to Apply

Students should start looking for apprenticeships or Employment with

accredited training at the same time as their UCAS applications – start this term.

Many companies start their recruitment in November.

Is it harder to get the grades and get an apprenticeship than go to university?

e.g. 2015 - 54 vacancies at Cobham Engineering –

986 applications.

There are 26 applications per apprenticeship place nationally

It’s a competitive process, give yourself the chance to compete, be prepared!

What are employers looking for:

• Employability Skills

• Verbal communication

• Teamwork

• Commercial awareness

• Analysing and investigation

• Initiative/self motivation

• Drive

• Written Communication

• Planning and Organising

• Flexibility

• Time Management

Supporting you through the Application Process

Things to do (please tick off once you have completed the task)

Update personal CV and letter of application (see examples

provided (Appendix 1)

Attend -Apprenticeship Assembly June 2015

Attend- Employability Skills workshop in October, including

Interview Skills

Arrange a mock interview with Sixth Form Leadership team prior

to an actual interview (we will also look to see if we can organise

an external Business Associate of the school to do this Interview.)

Practice the Aptitude tests

Ask your tutor to proof read your application form/ cv/letter of

applications

Organise relevant work experience (you can do this during your

community service time ( Please see Mrs Hunt for support)

Go on company Summer Schools

Be aware that each company is different in the way that they recruit:

• Motivational phone interview – 10/15 minutes • Group Exercise • Interviews with current apprentices • Open Evenings -Networking event • Video interviews –

• Cumulative scores from all the activities – candidates are given: • No (alternatives suggested to them) • Conditional/unconditional offer

• Reserve offers (if a place is not taken up) • Students take part in a ‘boot camp’ where they work on a project (e.g.

design a bank for 25 years in the future, incl. costings, customers ) • Students spend 4 days in the office, 1 day with training provider

Top Tips: Attending Interviews:

• Research the company’s website! • Complete application form thoroughly: check spelling and grammar, ask

your tutor to proof read this. • If they have to undertake aptitude tests – practice them (Appendix 2) • At interview dress appropriately, be prepared for basic questions such as:

• Why do you want to become an apprentice?

• Why do you want to come and work here?

• It could be a competency based interview – examples: • At Cobham Engineering you may be given a physical object

to analyse – this shows your problem solving skills

• at Redweb they may ask you to critique a website

• You may get asked questions about teams you have worked in and what your contribution was

• You may be encouraged to take in a portfolio

Types of Online Assessment:

• Situational Judgement Questionnaire – assesses your decision making

• Measurement of Competencies (management) – assesses the way you like to work

• Verbal Reasoning Assessment – assesses your ability to understand complex written information

• Numerical Reasoning Assessment – assesses your ability to understand complex numerical data

• Discover Rules and Interrelations – assesses your ability to solve problems

Examples below of these types of assessments:

Situational Judgement Questionnaire

Measurements of Competencies:

Insert 6 points across three different courses of action presented – you must assign all six points in each scenario

Insert 6 points across three different courses of action presented – you must assign all six points in each scenario

Networking

You need to be able to TALK confidently – to demonstrate the six competencies:

• Self Awareness

• Driven

• Receptive

• Self Assured

• Resilient • Informed

Researching Apprenticeships

Read the websites of the Companies involved – some companies organise

apprentices to spend a few months in each department before specialising

Organise to go in and visit the company first

Try to do some work experience during Year 12 or take part in e.g. Pathways to

Law programme

• http://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk

• http://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/apprenticeships

• https://www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk

• Check the websites of the major employers in your interested field e.g. google ‘10 top accountants’ and then work through their website for information about the company and recruitment process e.g. Price Waterhouse http://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/schools/applying/recruitment-process.jhtml

• Some recruitment agencies recruit apprentices e.g

• http://www.smartrecruituk.com for Law apprentices at Battens Solicitors

• Check your school’s work experience data base and check the website of local companies

• https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

• http://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/apprenticeships

• https://www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk

• http://www.bpp.com/apprenticeships - financial services, law, accountancy, business administration

• http://www.att.org.uk/students -higher-apprenticeship-in-tax

• http://www.semta.org/ - engineering apprenticeships

• http://www.babington.co.uk - business apprenticeships

• http://www.archapprentices.co.uk/ - Digital and IT apprenticeships

• https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx - advice on applications

• http://www.warsashacademy.co.uk/recruitment - Southampton based - not strictly apprenticeships but provide jobs with training linked to the Merchant Navy

• http://www.studentladder.co.uk/work/media.html - interim short or long work experience placements to get your students ahead of the rest!

• http://www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk

Local Apprenticeships : Contact employers, contact local colleges, look for

adverts in the paper and careers events. Use contacts below

www.oxfordshireapprenticeships.co.uk

www.oxme.info • Tel: 01865 323477

twitter@OxonApprentice

facebook – Oxfordshire Apprenticeships Apprenticeships this week:

Type of Apprenticeship Level Employer Weekly wage

Customer Service Apprentice (15) Advanced British Gas, Oxford £269

Customer Service Apprentice (20) Advanced BT, Oxford £265

Relations Management Support Apprentice Advanced Royal Bank of Scotland, Oxford £200

IT Service Management Analyst Apprentice Advanced UGC Rail Investments Ltd, Oxford £266

Apprentice Database Administrator Advanced UGC Rail Investments Ltd, Oxford £266

Higher Apprenticeship Programme Higher Nielsen, Oxford £192

Funeral Services Apprentice Intermediate Mid Counties Co-op, Oxford £192

Digital Marketing Apprentice Advanced U Drive Cars Ltd, Bicester £200

Electro Technical Apprentice Advanced Smy Electrical Ltd, Bicester £186

Fire Alarm Engineer Apprentice Intermediate MC Fire Protection, Bicester £160

Retail Optical Apprenticeship Intermediate Specsavers, Bicester £109

Telesales Apprenticeship Intermediate Park Display Ltd, Bicester £150

Appendix 1: Creating a CV

C V T e m p l a t e

Your Name Postal addre ss

Email address

Home phone n umber

Mobile phone number

P e r s o n a l S t a t e m e n t

A short statement that details what’s great about you.

For example, are you a hard-working, inquisitive individual who is confident in dealing with

members of the public? Or are you a considerate and personable character who likes to follow

procedure and enjoys working in a team?

E d u c a t i o n a n d Q u a l i f i c a t i o n s

University Name [Start date – End date]

Degree name (and classification achieved eg 2:1)

Example key modules or coursework / project work

School Name [Start date – End date]

A Level Grades

GCSE Grades (eg. 9 GCSE’s achieved at Grad A* - C, including Maths and English)

Other academic qualifications (eg. ECDL / NVQ / HND / BTEC etc)

E m p l o y m e n t H i s t o r y

Job Title [Start date – End date]

Company or organisation

Duties: list a few of the key responsibilities you have, any achievements in the role and any

skills used or learnt during employment.

Also include Volunteering or Charity work here

O t h e r A c h i e v e m e n t s

List Achievement [Start date – End date]

Brief description, highlighting skills used or learnt

EG. Young Enterprise Oxfordshire finalists [2014]

Finance Director for a successful Young Enterprise group. Managed the finances of the group from shares sold to income from product sales. Effective team work skills developed and leant about the benefits of good communication, accounting, presentation, and customer service

Other examples may include: awards you’ve won, Duke of Edinburgh levels achieved, if you’ve been

a sports team captain or a school prefect, have you achieved any musical grade? Don’t forget to

include any sponsored events you’ve completed.

H o b b i e s & I n t e r e s t s

List a few of your hobbies and interests here. Eg. reading, sporting activities, camping etc. Avoid those that might be thought of as controversial or unpopular – you don’t want to detract from your skills or upset a potential employer!

O t h e r

Full and clean UK driving licence, with own transport

References available upon request

Fluent in French

Fully IT literate including all Microsoft office packages

Top tips:

Always spell check and grammar check your CV, and proof read everything you send to a potential

employer

Try and keep it to two pages – brief is best, employers have lots of CV’s to read so will only skim

read most

Don’t add a photo unless requested – most jobs don’t require you to have super-model looks

Appendix 2: Practise Aptitude tests

• http://www.practiceaptitudetests.com • http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/tests

• http://www.cut-e.com • http://ptc.bps.org.uk/

• http://elearn.pwc.co.uk/psychometric/try.html • http://www.shldirect.com/en/practice-tests/

• http://www.savilleconsulting.com/PracticeTests

• https://www.graduatemonkey.com/bundle-aptitude-test • https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/apprentice-aptitude

Appendix 3:

Interview techniques

THE "STAR" APPROACH – HOW TO ANSWER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

The acronym STAR stands for

Situation

Task

Action

Result

It is a universally recognised communication technique designed to enable you to provide a

meaningful and complete answer to questions asking for examples. At the same time, it has the

advantage of being simple enough to be applied easily.

Many interviewers will have been trained in using the STAR structure. Even if they have not, they

will recognise its value when they see it. The information will be given to them in a structured

manner and, as a result, they will become more receptive to the messages you are trying to

communicate.

Step 1 – Situation or Task

Describe the situation that you were confronted with or the task that needed to be accomplished.

With the STAR approach you need to set the context. Make it concise and informative,

concentrating solely on what is useful to the story. For example, if the question is asking you to

describe a situation where you had to deal with a difficult person, explain how you came to meet

that person and why they were being difficult. If the question is asking for an example of teamwork,

explain the task that you had to undertake as a team.

Step 2 – Action

This is the most important section of the STAR approach as it is where you will need to demonstrate

and highlight the skills and personal attributes that the question is testing. Now that you have set

the context of your story, you need to explain what you did. In doing so, you will need to remember

the following:

Be personal, i.e. talk about ‘I’ not ‘we’

Go into some detail. Do not assume that they will guess what you mean

Steer clear of technical information, unless it is crucial to your story

Explain what you did, how you did it, and why you did it

What you did and how you did it

The interviewer will want to know how you reacted to the situation. This is where you can start

selling some important skills. For example, you may want to describe how you used the team to

achieve a particular objective and how you used your communication skills to keep everyone

updated on progress etc.

Why you did it

For example; when discussing a situation where you had to deal with conflict, many candidates

would simply say: “I told my colleague to calm down and explained to him what the problem was”.

However, it would not provide a good idea of what drove you to act in this manner. How did you ask

him to calm down? How did you explain the nature of the problem? By highlighting the reasons

behind your action, you would make a greater impact. For example:

“I could sense that my colleague was irritated and I asked him gently to tell me what he felt the

problem was. By allowing him to vent his feelings and his anger, I gave him the opportunity to calm

down. I then explained to him my own point of view on the matter, emphasising how important it was

that we found a solution that suited us both."

This revised answer helps the interviewers understand what drove your actions and reinforces the

feeling that you are calculating the consequences of your actions, thus retaining full control of the

situation. It provides much more information about you as an individual and is another reason why

the STAR approach is so useful.

Step 3 – Result

Explain what happened eventually – how it all ended. Also, use the opportunity to describe what

you accomplished and what you learnt in that situation. This helps you make the answer personal

and enables you to highlight further skills.

This is probably the most crucial part of your answer. Interviewers want to know that you are using

a variety of generic skills in order to achieve your objectives. Therefore you must be able to

demonstrate in your answer that you are taking specific actions because you are trying to achieve a

specific objective and not simply by chance.