A NORTH-EAST IT firm is continuing to support young people with an in-house scheme that has so far helped more than 20 to start a career.

Gateshead-based ITPS has taken at least four young people a year for the last eight years, mainly into its technical services and field engineer teams.

Each of the apprentices embarks on a two-year course delivered in partnership with training partners ITEC North East and Zodiac Training. The programme sees the young people working alongside experienced engineers at base and out in the field, all backed up by formal training sessions.

Qualifying with NVQs in a range of ICT disciplines, a large proportion of them are offered permanent jobs with ITPS.

Sam Heppell, human resources manager, explained why the company started its own scheme.

“As a successful business we are in a position to give young people the chance to develop the skills and confidence that will get them started on the career ladder," she said. 

“Experience has taught us that the best way to do that is to offer them a combination of structured training and support, plus hands-on experience.  It gives them the right mix of academic learning and practical skills, and means we can train them in the way we like to conduct business, teach them how to establish good client relationships, and show them how our business operates from the ground up.

“Apprenticeships have real commercial value, because by constantly adding new talent into our staff pool we maintain the skilled and motivated workforce that supports our clients and helps us grow.”

One of those who has benefited from the ITPS apprenticeship scheme is 22 year old Lewis Woof, from Gateshead, now a first line support engineer:

“I opted for an apprenticeship rather than college so I could get practical experience as well as theory. I learn quicker when I have to do something in a real situation, plus I enjoy it more,” he said.

“With an apprenticeship there are more opportunities to specialise in particular areas and you get to talk to clients and go out on site, which is a great way to learn what’s involved in a particular role, and experience that you just would not get in college. Our clients provide feedback too, which is used in our appraisals so we know how well we are doing.

“Now I’m on the helpdesk I’m the first point of contact for clients. As well as providing telephone and online support I also go out on site and I recently went to London to help set up an IT environment.

"An apprenticeship at ITPS was the right place to start for me - I definitely made the right decision.”