Apprenticeships
An apprenticeship offers hands on experience, comprehensive training and a technical qualification all whilst earning a salary. Apprenticeships will give you the skills, knowledge and behaviours to succeed in your career.
APPRENTICESHIP WEEK 2022
The third annual Northern Ireland Apprenticeship Week will take place from 7th and 11th February 2022 .
Led by the Department for the Economy, the annual week-long celebration aims to raise the profile of apprenticeships across Northern Ireland by bringing together partners including local councils, employers, universities, further education colleges and private training providers.
Through a series of mostly virtual events, the week will demonstrate the benefits of becoming an apprentice, and showcase how apprenticeships can work to strengthen and grow businesses, communities and the wider economy.
Click on the tiles to see events and for more information about getting involved.
APPRENTICESHIPS & YOUR COMPANY
Are you ready to re-energise your business? If your answer is ‘Yes’ then consider employing an apprentice today! An apprentice can be a new or existing employee starting a new position. Take on an apprentice to discover fresh talent and thinking to meet your business needs and grow together.
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Employing an apprentice is like recruiting any other employee.
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An apprentice is in paid employment from day one. National Minimum Wage rates for apprentices apply however this rate differs for Higher Level Apprenticeships.
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An apprenticeship usually takes between two and four years to complete depending on the type of apprenticeship.
During this time you will share your industry expertise and knowledge by providing mentoring and “on the job” training. Your apprentice will attend directed or “off the job” training (usually one day per week) to achieve the relevant industry qualifications and requirements which will be delivered by your chosen training provider.
APPRENTICESHIPS & PATHWAYS
An apprenticeship offers hands on experience, comprehensive training and a technical qualification all whilst earning a salary. Apprenticeships will give you the skills, knowledge and behaviours to succeed in your career.
In Northern Ireland, there are many apprenticeship paths within Northern Ireland. Here’s some more information to help you make decisions about apprenticeships as well as supports on offer.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are a bloodline to the Manufacturing sector and our work in this area continues to focus on;
- Maintaining and supporting existing apprenticeships
- Continuing to support and promote a new pipeline through schools and colleges
- Continuing to promote vocational training and work-based learning
Manufacturing NI participated on the central working group which helped to deliver the inaugural apprenticeship NI week in February 2020.
Having worked closed with the Skills Branch of The Department of Economy since the start of the pandemic, we welcomed the recent decisive action taken to introduce a series of much needed financial support to recruit and retain apprenticeships during this difficult time.
Details of schemes
Connect to Success & other opportunities
The Connect to Success Portal is an advertising platform for Employers to advertise Apprenticeships and Work Experience Opportunities.
Click here to advertise a vacancy on the Connect to Success Portal.
For ease of reference please also see this guidance, which may help
All Apprenticeship and Work Experience Opportunities can be found here
Other useful links:
NI DIRECT
Workplus and Manufacturing NI
Manufacturing NI have teamed up with Belfast based firm Workplus to announce 50 apprenticeship opportunities with 40 companies for 2021. The apprenticeships cover a variety of roles across a number of sectors including civil engineering, quantity surveying, IT and administration.
Companies offering apprenticeships include AECOM, Farrans, Greiner, Liberty IT and Tobermore.
Workplus, a Belfast-based company, makes it easier for employers to find apprentices by providing a single place for applicants to apply, as well as ensuring a simple, thorough selection process for employers.
Part of this employer demand has come through the Department for Economy’s Apprenticeship Challenge Fund, which enabled a collaboration between Workplus and Manufacturing NI. This collaboration will support the creation of further apprenticeship opportunities in the manufacturing sector. The Department for the Economy’s Apprenticeship Challenge Fund launched in September 2020 and was designed to support increased participation in the Northern Ireland apprenticeship system.
Jim Wilkinson, Director of Apprenticeships, Careers and Vocational Education at the Department for the Economy, said: “Apprentices have undoubtedly been affected by the current Covid 19 pandemic but they remain a critical component of our economic recovery. Today’s announcement by Workplus is an indication that the Department’s package of interventions to minimise apprenticeship job losses, maintain and grow the supply of apprenticeship opportunities and support apprentices who have been displaced and lost their apprenticeship are working.”
Workplus Director, Richard Kirk, said, “We are pleased to be announcing these opportunities in various sectors and companies across Northern Ireland. They reflect a confidence going forward into 2021, and give school leavers and those wishing to retrain hope that there are jobs and new opportunities available which combine earning and learning.”
He added, “Workplus exists to bring together employers and apprentices on one platform and simplify the application and appointment process. Apprenticeships are the purest form of collaboration between employers, government and education providers and, I believe, will be integral to our economic recovery from the impact of the pandemic.”
Mary Meehan, Deputy CEO at Manufacturing NI, said, “We are pleased to be partnering with Workplus through the DfE’s Apprenticeship Challenge Fund to create apprenticeship opportunities within the manufacturing sector. Apprenticeships are important to Northern Ireland and vital to our economic recovery.”
Details can be found at Workplus.app.
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