Employer Blog - EveryStep Financial
We have been using Weston College for our apprenticeship program for the last three years now. Weston College has been extremely helpful with this process and we have always been impressed by the candidates that they have given us.
The process worked very well as a representative from Weston College came and met with us to learn about our business and the office environment that we run. They then sent us CVs for candidates they felt would be suitable in our required role and we handpicked candidates from these for interview. We started off by offering a traineeship program to the successful candidate which lasted four weeks, this allowed us to analyse their suitability for an apprenticeship and to see if they would fit in with the culture of the business.
It is very difficult to judge a candidate from an initial interview as some candidates may not be confident in a formal interview yet could be very confident and capable in a team environment. This initial four-week program also allows the candidate to decide if our work place is the correct choice for them rather than just going for an interview, accepting the job and then finding that they don’t feel comfortable in that work place.
We were very sceptical when we first took on an apprentice due to their age and maturity, however, I am pleased to say that they have exceeded our expectations at every level.
It is important to us that the candidates are smart, conscientious, hard-working and willing to learn. We strongly believe that you get out what you put in, which is why we expect the apprentices to show commitment to us and in return we will show commitment to them. We believe in continual training and upskilling our staff, even after the apprenticeship has finished, allowing the candidate to be successful in their chosen career.
We have found the apprenticeship program extremely beneficial to our business as it has allowed us to mould them into the role we required within the business.
Two of our apprentices have passed their qualifications on time and the third is due to finish this month. We have been so impressed with our apprentices that we have offered them full time employment and they are now very valuable members of our team.
One of our apprentices has gone on to become a fully qualified Mortgage Adviser and the other is now a full qualified Will Writer.
We would highly recommend the apprenticeship program and Weston College.
Nick Barnes,
Director
EveryStep Financial