We recently celebrated National Apprenticeship Week in the UK, an initiative that celebrates the value, opportunities, and impact of apprenticeships.
This year’s theme, Skills for Life, highlighted how apprenticeships help individuals build rewarding careers while enabling employers to develop a future-ready workforce, an ethos that we at EnerMech fully embrace to help launch the careers of those entering the energy sector.
We are proud we can develop our people through opportunities that help them progress and grow as individuals. Enabling our team to flourish and take their careers to the next level is one of our key priorities. Ultimately, people are at the centre of everything we do in our pursuit of leading innovation and improving standards across all disciplines.
We employ apprentices across the globe, and to recognize the contribution they make to our business, we asked some of our Aberdeen-based apprentices for their thoughts on being an apprentice and what it has given them.
Filip Basczynski, an electrical apprentice in the Aberdeen facilities team, said he enjoys the variety of work he gets to do as part of the team.
“I decided to become an apprentice as it was a good way to get hands-on experience in the field I was interested in and already studying,” Filip said. “I decided to join EnerMech because of the opportunities and training available as well as the variety of work which ranges from household work to ATEX electrical work. I’d advise anyone interested in becoming an apprentice to try to get experience in any related work or hobbies if they’re still studying.”
Shaun Rooney said he enjoys working with different people because he learns something different from each person. He particularly enjoys client site work as it lets him see what happens and how things work there compared to the workshop.
“No two days are the same,” said Shaun. “There are new problems to solve every day which keeps you on your toes and means you must be ready to adapt to new situations. I chose to work at EnerMech because I believed they would give me the best opportunity to develop myself and my career.”
Abigail Groves, an apprentice mechanical technician, also enjoys the variety of different jobs and projects she works on. She chose an apprenticeship to progress her career.
“I came into the apprenticeship scheme with advanced qualifications, so I am now mainly working alongside qualified technicians to apply my knowledge in a work setting,” Abigail said. “Following a project from the strip down process all the way through to the rebuild process has developed my skills and I continue to pick up information which I can apply to various jobs.”
Calum Smith, an equipment technician apprentice, said his apprenticeship has helped him develop his organizational, timekeeping, communication, problem solving and planning skills.
“I enjoy working practically and want to gain further qualifications whilst doing so,” Calum said. “When I investigated apprenticeship schemes and how you learn on the job and become fully qualified by the end, I made my mind up that I wanted to do this. The advice I’d give to anyone considering becoming an apprentice is to always be engaged with what’s going on as you may gain skills and knowledge where you won’t expect.”
Connor Rattray joined EnerMech because his friends recommended the company as a great place to work.
“I enjoy all the variety in the work I do. Since becoming an apprentice, I’ve learned how to use a range of different tools safely and properly and I’ve had mentors and colleagues who have helped me on my journey. My advice to someone considering an apprenticeship is not to let themselves get overwhelmed by the amount of information you get.”