I started off my career as an apprentice when I was 17 years old.
I joined Orange as an apprentice mobile telecommunications engineer.
It was my first real job.
As a young person entering the workplace for the first time, it was important that my employer would be supportive. That meant that I was allocated a mentor locally and the apprenticeship scheme was run by a group of professionals who met with us on a regular basis.
In the cohort that started this scheme, there were 14 of us across the country.
One of the most important support networks was my fellow apprentices. This was in the days before social media, WhatsApp, smartphones and the internet as we know it today. In fact, after my apprenticeship ended, I was part of the team that built and deployed the original 3G network for Orange in the UK.
Apprenticeships were rare in those days.
Nowadays apprenticeships are commonplace and are an excellent choice for a young person to make as they decide on how they want to to progress in their lives after education. Sometimes University isn’t right for some people and they can flourish with on-the-job training in an apprenticeship.
However, as we witness the rapid changes to the world of work that the recent pandemic has caused, we should not forget the impact that this has also had on the younger generation who are at the start of their career.
Some commentators are calling 15 and 16 year olds the ‘Forgotten Generation’, who will be negatively impacted due to Covid-19, from a career aspect.
It is promising to hear that the UK Prime Minister is considering an apprentice guarantee and there are news items such as BAE Systems going ahead with the recruitment of 800 apprentices. I can’t help but wonder how relationships will be forged and how apprentices will be engaged and supported and mentored in this new world that we find ourselves in. A world of remote work, social distancing and reductions in office space.
Step forward Hollaroo, who are working with companies such as CapGemini and Dentons to help with the digitalisation of early careers programmes.
Hollaroo is helping these organisations, and others, to build relationships with and between their Emerging Talent before and after they start their new roles and enter into the world of work.
For me building relationships with experienced colleagues as well as other apprentices was key to my enjoyment and progression as an apprentice. I remember those times as some of the most enjoyable yet influential of my career.
Today the opportunity exists to deploy a fully digital approach to relationship building and onboarding of your Early Years Talent.
A successful digital program will not only nurture and prepare, but also support expectations and communications, readying those new starters for the future.
The traditional recruitment timetable for early careers is long, usually taking many months or even years from initiation to completion and onboarding. Hollaroo was founded on the principle of creating long term trusted relationships through starting conversations being transparent and respectful, and allowing users to engage on their terms.
Many employers are now turning to Hollaroo in order to augment and enable the digitisation of their Emerging Talent programmes across:
Graduates
Apprenticeships
Internships
Industrial placements
If you would like to find out more please get in touch
