National Apprenticeship Week

During last month’s National Apprenticeship Week, I was lucky enough to visit a number of non-destructive testing (NDT) organisations and meet with their latest intake of NDT apprentices. Over the course of the week, I visited five different companies and met with 15 apprentices, all of whom were at different stages of their apprenticeship journey, working hard on their continuing professional development (CPD) and studying for their formal NDT examinations. It was great to see how much effort these individuals are putting into their new career, but what struck me the most was the common theme as to why they are putting all this effort in. It pains me to say this but, for most (99.9% of the NDT apprenticeship population), NDT is not a first career choice, partly because they are not exposed to it or do not have any knowledge that this industry even exists after leaving school. Many of the individuals on the NDT apprenticeship schemes have had previous roles in various industry sectors, from shopping attendants to baristas, to tree surgeons and much more. After a couple of years of working away, they realise that their current role is not something that they wish to pursue and they start looking at other opportunities. They may look at the National Apprenticeship Service job site for available apprenticeship vacancies or hear of available roles through friends or family members. When I ask: ‘Why did you choose NDT in the end?’, they go on to explain that it sounded interesting and, after doing a bit of research, they could see themselves becoming part of this industry. After the first few months of the company induction and generally getting their heads around all the acronyms that NDT is famous for, they then start to see all the available opportunities and different paths that a career in NDT can create. This is then where you start to see the lightbulb moment: effort = reward.

One of the latest NDT apprentices, Alex Davies from the NDT Group, said: “In my previous apprenticeship as a landscape gardener, there was no real progression once I completed my apprenticeship and I did not really put my all into it because there was not much to aim for. Since joining the NDT industry, I can see that there are so many opportunities to make my own career and the certain levels and techniques that I could aim to achieve gives me a lot of motivation to progress and be successful.”

This is an excellent cycle of knowledge transfer, experience and personal development.

Next month, I will focus on a couple of success stories to highlight personal and organisational success through the utilisation of the NDT apprenticeship.

Please note that the views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent the views of Skills Training UK or BINDT.

Sam Cunningham is with Skills Training UK and is a member of BINDT’s Education & Professional Development Committee, which oversees the development of the NDT apprenticeships.

Employers in England looking to recruit an apprentice can find up-to-date guidance at: www.gov.uk/recruit-apprentice

Details of the current apprenticeship vacancies in England are available at: www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship