National Apprenticeship Week is a time to recognise and applaud apprenticeship success stories across the country, extending the message to communities and audiences that are less familiar with the value and return on investment they bring.
‘Look Beyond’ will serve as a rallying cry for the apprenticeship community to showcase the true meaning of diversity within apprenticeships, including:
The contribution that apprentices make to our profession is immense. I’ve had the privilege of meeting many apprentices whilst President and am blown away by what I see every time: young professionals wanting to make a difference and serving as role models for their peers and within their wider communities. I have seen first-hand how apprenticeships provide opportunities that enable us to look beyond traditional groups and attract new talent into the profession, bringing with it a new energy and perspective to problem solving. And with the support of the CIHT, today’s apprentices have the flexibility to develop their professional careers at the pace that suits them.
We are delighted to have such exciting people amongst our apprentice membership. This is important for CIHT as we have been working with government and the wider sector to highlight the role that apprentices will play now and in the future for the UK.
Apprenticeships are a great way to learn new skills, gain valuable work experience and become qualified all whilst earning a wage. National Apprenticeship Week provides an opportunity for us to highlight all those involved in promoting and supporting this great initiative.
Erin Ruddy, CIHT’s Apprentice of the Year 2018, passed her EPA on 8 January 2020. Erin was cited as an outstanding candidate by the reviewers.
Erin is considered outstanding because she demonstrated a strong ethic to keeping everyone safe and she explained this is of paramount importance. For someone relatively new into the profession and a relatively junior team member, her level of focus on health and safety was impressive. Erin is not afraid to suggest new or novel ways of solving a problem. She was confident in her approach to senior members of the education authority about the release of data and managed to persuade them to do so. Erin is clearly not afraid to go the extra mile and undertake unpaid work to ensure her project had more prospect in being successful. Erin is committed to developing herself and others. She is the YPC chair of her local CIHT Region and she organises events to promote education and training of others. She has also promoted career paths to women in engineering by presenting at a number of Women in Engineering Workshops.
I was proud and thrilled when I received the news from CIHT that I passed my EPA with an outstanding grade. I am so grateful for the help and support that I have received from CIHT throughout the early stages of my career. I will continue to strive for success within the CIHT family and in my professional career. If I had any advice to offer an apprentice just starting out, I would tell them to never let anyone convince you something can’t be done, if you have a dream you must protect it, if you want something, go get it.
As an apprentice member CIHT provides you with a range of benefits to help you establish and boost your career.
Benefits include the ability to:
Stand out from the crowd – By joining an organisation that is recognised globally it shows that you are serious about success in the industry and enhances the perception of you with employers worldwide.
Furthermore, you have the chance to be recognised as a rising star in highways and transportation by entering the Apprentice of the Year Award.
Get better results – Get access to the essential news, key trends, insights, research materials and technical information that will enhance your performance, enable you to speak confidently with your colleagues and contribute more to the success of your employer.
Develop – We can help you build your CPD, through mentoring, professional registration, CPD events and much more. Improve and broaden your knowledge so you can demonstrate your value and ambition to the employer with attending a wide range of CIHT events and accessing online resources
Network – Maximise your connections with attendance at regional and national events where you can meet with other apprentices and key industry professionals including leaders in business and government.
Get to meet people, not only from your business but from the industry as well. To exchange stories, tips, lessons learnt . . . the events are really great . . . helps expand my CPD and knowledge
Since the very beginning of starting my Apprenticeship there have been so many opportunities available to me that I never thought there would be. You’re encouraged to get involved to not only improve your existing skills and knowledge in the workplace, but you’re also encouraged and supported to put yourself “out there” and make a difference where your interests and passions are to make that difference. Never did I think that I would be able to organise my company to take part in the Leeds Pride Parade before! As time passes you’re truly able to sit back and see how far you’ve developed not only as an Apprentice but as a person too, and that’s what is so exciting about it.
Being an apprentice is a great way to learn whilst being making money. To me it is a much more efficient way of gaining on-site experience and obtaining a portfolio as well as studying alongside. CIHT is a processional body who create great opportunities for apprentices like myself
Seize every opportunity
