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Apprentice applications soar
06/03/2017
Our latest results show that the popularity of apprenticeships is soaring as National Apprenticeship Week reaches its tenth year.
Our latest craft apprenticeship recruitment campaign has seen an almost 70 percent increase in applications compared with last year.
Grantham Apprentice Andy Jackson gets to grips with WPD’s training.
The campaign attracted 2,775 applications for the 89 positions available across the Midlands, South West England and South Wales, up 66 percent from 2016. Since 2015, the number of applications has more than doubled.
Apprenticeships include full in-house and on-the-job training and development, and take up to three years to complete. A qualified craftsperson will then work on either overhead lines, the underground cable network or help maintain substation equipment to keep the lights on to homes and businesses in the area.
Bev Collings, WPD’s Employee Relations Manager was delighted with this latest result: “Our strategy to use social media as a key element of our recruitment and to develop our website to encourage more applications has made a significant contribution,” she said.
Our campaign focused heavily on digital promotion via social media and its website, using videos, case studies and live Q&A sessions across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to raise the profile of the apprentice programme. Potential applicants were then signposted to the company’s new online applications system to guide them through the application process.
In the last year, we have seen a growth of 200 percent in our Facebook followers and a 40 percent increase in Twitter followers – having one of the largest Twitter sites, with 17,000 followers, in the UK distribution network operator arena.
Our latest craft apprenticeship recruitment campaign has seen an almost 70 percent increase in applications compared with last year.
Grantham Apprentice Andy Jackson gets to grips with WPD’s training.
The campaign attracted 2,775 applications for the 89 positions available across the Midlands, South West England and South Wales, up 66 percent from 2016. Since 2015, the number of applications has more than doubled.
Apprenticeships include full in-house and on-the-job training and development, and take up to three years to complete. A qualified craftsperson will then work on either overhead lines, the underground cable network or help maintain substation equipment to keep the lights on to homes and businesses in the area.
Bev Collings, WPD’s Employee Relations Manager was delighted with this latest result: “Our strategy to use social media as a key element of our recruitment and to develop our website to encourage more applications has made a significant contribution,” she said.
Our campaign focused heavily on digital promotion via social media and its website, using videos, case studies and live Q&A sessions across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to raise the profile of the apprentice programme. Potential applicants were then signposted to the company’s new online applications system to guide them through the application process.
In the last year, we have seen a growth of 200 percent in our Facebook followers and a 40 percent increase in Twitter followers – having one of the largest Twitter sites, with 17,000 followers, in the UK distribution network operator arena.
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