Summing up the Pros (and Cons) of taking on an Apprentice with Paul Tebbatt

Is an apprentice the right decision for your business? Paul Tebbatt; Technical Director at LiveLogic shares his experience of hiring apprentices; looking at the pros AND the cons.

Our business LiveLogic Ltd are currently hiring, so naturally Fiona Naylor asks us whether we are considering hiring an apprentice. My answer is, “No".

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for hiring apprentices, in fact, some of the best (I mean BEST) people I’ve been involved in hiring have been apprentices, but right now an apprentice is not what we’re looking for.

So why am I telling you this? Surely I should be writing otherwise. But the truth is that sometimes an apprentice is just what your business needs, and sometimes it’s not. I’m hoping that from this article whether you are hiring now or are hoping to hire in the future, that it will give you the knowledge to make the right decision for your business. Because when you are ready for an apprentice, really amazing things do happen…

I’m Paul Tebbatt and I am Technical Director at LiveLogic*.

A bit of background...

Over the last 10 years in the industry I have been involved with the hiring of staff members at almost all levels of business. From people who sit in on management meetings with company directors through to people starting out in their tech careers as apprentices.

When hiring an apprentice it is a slightly different process, however the things that I am looking for aren’t that different. People with an obvious aptitude for learning new skills as well those that have a passion and love for what they are doing. The only difference will be experience in the industry.

The pros of apprentices:

➡️ Fresh energy in the business

➡️ A member of staff who can bring income into the business - The Coders Guild train key billable skills in the first three months so that apprentices can deliver billable work early. They also provide support for teams in integrating the apprentice into your business. This speeds up the ROI and lessens the resourcing impact of hiring an apprentice.

➡️ More cost effective than hiring a Junior or Mid level developer

➡️ Opportunities for other developers to mentor and gain management experience

➡️ A new employee that should be around for at least 18 months guaranteed

➡️ Skills from other roles the apprentice has developed from previous careers

➡️ No recruitment cost and access to The Coders Guild’s own pipeline of digital talent

There are some things you do need to consider before hiring an apprentice. An apprentice won’t suit every businesses’ needs, but you can navigate certain issues by planning correctly. Here are some things to think about:

➡️ Make sure you have the capacity to have someone to support the apprentice. They will need some help

➡️ Make sure you have projects for them to work on, but allow them extra time to complete them (to begin with)

➡️ You will need to teach the learner some of what you want them to know. They will be trained on the fundamentals but you will need to train/allow them time to learn specific languages or frameworks

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend bringing an apprentice into our business if we had the correct provision for that person to thrive. For it to be a success; both the learner and the business have to be the correct fit.

If you’d like to discuss whether an apprentice is the right fit for your business, or would like to find out more about our talent pipeline and the individuals looking to start an apprenticeship then contact us or drop Fiona an email: Fiona@thecodersguild.org.uk

* LiveLogic is a team of digital experts who build online learning designed to engage employees and achieve business goals.