Arcus celebrates National Apprenticeship Week 2019
To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2019, leading facilities management company, Arcus, is showcasing some of its fantastic apprentices and their journey so far and welcoming its brand-new apprentices to the organisation.
Arcus has a diverse range of apprenticeship programmes that are designed not only to help young people onto the first stepping stone of their career, but also to build a future workforce with the skills required for the industry.
Last week Arcus welcomed six new apprentices to the organisation who have all joined as Customer Service apprentices. In addition to the new colleagues joining, the company currently has 46 apprentices registered on one of its programmes.
The organisation has a culture of continuous improvement and is always striving to do better. And this is reflective in its apprenticeships and training programmes.
Arcus offers apprenticeships in its core technical disciplines, including refrigeration, building services (mechanical and engineering) and property maintenance.
As well as technical apprenticeships the company offers customer service apprenticeships aimed at helpdesk colleagues and also apprenticeships to support managers in their early career.
Katie Fishwick, Customer Service Practitioner apprentice
“I joined Arcus in April 2018. I made the decision that an apprenticeship was something I wanted to do as Sixth Form wasn’t working for me. When I started my apprenticeship, I was unsure how it all worked but this was clearly explained to me during my interview.
“On my first day I was a little nervous as this was my first full-time job, but everyone at Arcus was very welcoming and this made moving into the working environment very easy.
“From here I continued my training, learning something new each day. Being paired with a colleague who was well experienced in the job meant that I was able to experience first-hand what the role entailed and ask any questions I had. Since joining the company I’ve attended a number of apprenticeship workshops which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. They’ve allowed me to learn and further my knowledge in my area.
“During my time so far at Arcus I have progressed from the Helpdesk and I’ve utilised my knowledge and experience and I’m now a member of the Proactive team. I really enjoyed my apprenticeship and I’m looking forward to fulfilling my full potential at Arcus.”
Erin Morgan, Customer Assurance Agent apprentice
“Through my Arcus experience so far, I am so happy I chose to do the apprenticeship. When finishing school, I thought it meant I didn’t need to learn anything new and that whatever grades I left school with would map out the rest of my life. I was completely wrong; this qualification has taught me that learning on the job and working towards something brings lots of future opportunity. I am nearly at the end of my apprenticeship and I’ve had such an amazing experience.”
Michael Ridgett, Learning and Communications Director explains: “We’re very proud of our apprenticeship offering at Arcus and National Apprenticeship Week is a great opportunity to celebrate our apprentices and the value they bring to the organisation.
“We partner with some of the country’s leading providers, colleges and training centres, such as Seetec, IWFM and Eastleigh College, to ensure our apprentices receive class-leading training. We also supplement our apprenticeship training programme with a bespoke curriculum delivered from our own dedicated training facilities in Essex and the Midlands. Our apprenticeship programmes are opened each year to both internal and external applicants, please visit our website to find out more.”
Lauren Webb Head of Strategic Partnerships & Employer Solutions at Seetec, said: “It’s been a great journey working with Arcus – the company has really been able to embrace opportunities following on from the apprenticeship levy.
“It’s great to see them not only welcome new apprentices, but also invest the time in their current colleagues as well. Having worked with them closely over the last 12 months, we envisage a strong partnership going from strength to strength in the future.”
As part of National Apprenticeship Week, Sam Foster, Resourcer at Arcus has shared some CV writing tips:
Top CV writing tips:
- It’s really important to spell check all your work and get somebody else to proof read it too
- Make sure all of your contact details are up to date
- Your CV shouldn’t be any longer than two pages
- Make sure you choose a font that is easy to read
- Always include dates (start and end dates of roles)
- Qualifications need to be detailed (for example what subject and what grade)
- Attach a cover letter – employers like to see candidates provide details of why they’re suitable for the role
- Personalise your CV with a short individual summary.
Arcus aims to continue to grow its Apprenticeship intake both internally and externally over the next few years.
