Back to news & events
Apprentice encourages young people
13/03/2017
Josh Evans, an engineering apprentice of ours used SkillsCymru, a major careers event in Llanelli last week, to encourage young people to consider vocational careers.
The event, which ran during Apprenticeship Week (6th to 10th March), welcomed more than 4,000 young people and adults about the variety of different careers and vocational routes available to them.
Josh Evans, WPD apprentice.
The 24-year-old from Pen-y-fai in Bridgend is training to become a linesman. This involves repairing and maintaining the overhead power network, which can carry 66,000 volts to homes and businesses across South Wales. Safety is a key element of his work – especially when it involves climbing electricity poles.
Once he’s completed his apprenticeship, Josh will be qualified to repair cable faults, carry out routine maintenance work and planned power shutdowns and replace wooden poles.
Having decided college or university wasn’t the right path for him, Josh realised he was more suited to a hands on approach. Now he’s hoping to inspire school and college leavers to follow a similar path and choose an apprenticeship.
He said: “When it came to deciding what to do after my GCSEs I was really stuck, I’d been to one or two careers fairs where I’d heard about apprenticeships but I wasn’t really sure what they entailed. It was only when the head of engineering at school saw my potential and encouraged me to work in a hands-on environment that I started to consider it.
“I hope I’ll be able to give some useful advice at the event and explain how an apprenticeship works, from the tutor support you receive to the qualifications and money you can earn while studying.
“One of the best things about starting out as an apprentice straight from school is that even though you’re starting at the bottom, you’ve already begun working your way up through the company at a young age. Eventually, I’d like to become a training instructor, teaching apprentices like myself how to work on power supplies safely.
“The job I do will always be in demand, so I can see myself in this industry for a very long time.”
Minister for Skills and Science, Julie James said: “It’s so important for young people to be able to make well informed decisions about their futures, from working towards going to university to starting out in the world of work through an apprenticeship.
“Being able to hear what it’s like to do an apprenticeship first-hand is so useful to students in Carmarthenshire and events like these are a great opportunity to learn more about the variety of career options available here in Wales.”
Josh and other WPD apprentices will be on hand alongside more than 100 other employers from across Wales, including Dyfed Powys Police, GE Aviation and Bluestone leisure resort at the event which takes place during Apprenticeship Week in Llanelli’s Parc y Scarlets on 9 and 10 March.
Organised by Careers Wales and Coleg Sir Gâr, and supported by the Welsh Government, the event is designed to inspire and educate young people and adults about the variety of different careers and apprenticeships available.
For more information about SkillsCymru Carmarthenshire, visit: www.careerswales.com/skillscymruCarmarthenshire
The event, which ran during Apprenticeship Week (6th to 10th March), welcomed more than 4,000 young people and adults about the variety of different careers and vocational routes available to them.
Josh Evans, WPD apprentice.
The 24-year-old from Pen-y-fai in Bridgend is training to become a linesman. This involves repairing and maintaining the overhead power network, which can carry 66,000 volts to homes and businesses across South Wales. Safety is a key element of his work – especially when it involves climbing electricity poles.
Once he’s completed his apprenticeship, Josh will be qualified to repair cable faults, carry out routine maintenance work and planned power shutdowns and replace wooden poles.
Having decided college or university wasn’t the right path for him, Josh realised he was more suited to a hands on approach. Now he’s hoping to inspire school and college leavers to follow a similar path and choose an apprenticeship.
He said: “When it came to deciding what to do after my GCSEs I was really stuck, I’d been to one or two careers fairs where I’d heard about apprenticeships but I wasn’t really sure what they entailed. It was only when the head of engineering at school saw my potential and encouraged me to work in a hands-on environment that I started to consider it.
“I hope I’ll be able to give some useful advice at the event and explain how an apprenticeship works, from the tutor support you receive to the qualifications and money you can earn while studying.
“One of the best things about starting out as an apprentice straight from school is that even though you’re starting at the bottom, you’ve already begun working your way up through the company at a young age. Eventually, I’d like to become a training instructor, teaching apprentices like myself how to work on power supplies safely.
“The job I do will always be in demand, so I can see myself in this industry for a very long time.”
Minister for Skills and Science, Julie James said: “It’s so important for young people to be able to make well informed decisions about their futures, from working towards going to university to starting out in the world of work through an apprenticeship.
“Being able to hear what it’s like to do an apprenticeship first-hand is so useful to students in Carmarthenshire and events like these are a great opportunity to learn more about the variety of career options available here in Wales.”
Josh and other WPD apprentices will be on hand alongside more than 100 other employers from across Wales, including Dyfed Powys Police, GE Aviation and Bluestone leisure resort at the event which takes place during Apprenticeship Week in Llanelli’s Parc y Scarlets on 9 and 10 March.
Organised by Careers Wales and Coleg Sir Gâr, and supported by the Welsh Government, the event is designed to inspire and educate young people and adults about the variety of different careers and apprenticeships available.
For more information about SkillsCymru Carmarthenshire, visit: www.careerswales.com/skillscymruCarmarthenshire
Tagged under
- About Us