​This week is national apprenticeship week. MPI has always been proud supporters of apprenticeships, we have sponsored apprentices with our clients, we have developed training schemes with clients and we have brought in a number of internal apprentices to work in our admin, recruitment and finance departments. They have been very successful and are still enjoying their careers with MPI. With the pressures faced in the pandemic many schemes were cut back or suspended but in September last year we were lucky enough to take on a new recruitment apprentice- Fenton.

We are using this opportunity in National Apprenticeship Week to share a bit about how and why Fenton took the apprenticeship and the benefits he feels it provides. Welcome to MPI Fenton and Good Luck for the rest of your apprenticeship!

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Why did you choose an apprenticeship?

I chose an apprenticeship as it will give me a qualification (hopefully) at the end of it and always give me something to fall back on and allows me to progress onto the next step if I wish to earn another qualification in the future. It will also allow me to learn the foundations of recruitment as well as learning on the job.

How did you find your apprenticeship, what was the process like?

I found the apprenticeship through a family friend within the company but I was originally looking for an apprenticeship so it worked out well. The process was similar to a regular job as I had to go for an interview as well as a few discussions with the manager and fortunately I was offered the role.

What is your apprenticeship like? What’s a typical day, what is the qualification side of the work like?

My apprenticeship requires a couple of hours every week of straight learning from the apprenticeship provider. This includes watching videos and occasionally 1 on 1 with the mentor. I will watch videos and answer questions to build my learning on recruitment. Also, a lot of my apprenticeship work can be done on the job as I am always learning new things about the railway as well as recruitment in general and answering calls which is helping me develop communication skills.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting an apprenticeship?

 I would suggest an apprenticeship as it is a good way to start a career and get yourself into a role, It also helps to build the foundations. I would advise somebody to do an apprenticeship if they are sure that they want to go into that sector.