Change National Apprenticeship Week?
Christos Orthodoxou
Bringing employers together through roundtables and building innovation recruitment strategies
There seems to be a lot of talk about National Apprenticeship Week this year, which isn’t a surprise with the introduction of the levy. I think there’s a lot of value in it but an interesting conversation recently with an employer and another with a school got me thinking: have we got it wrong in terms of timing?
Let’s look at two halves of the equation.
Schools want their students to engage with employers early in the year and make informed decisions by time the UCAS deadline hits. National Apprenticeship Week falls way after this and so can often prove frustrating once they are bombarded by offers, as many students would have already made up their minds, applied to university and won’t consider alternative options.
Employers simply want to reach the best and most diverse talent possible. If waiting to launch advertising campaigns or vacancies until near or after National Apprenticeship Week, this can have a huge impact as many students would simply not be available to them.
Bearing all this in mind, what options are available?
Options
- Change National Apprenticeship Week to November – this makes a lot of sense and would give employers a higher chance of finding talent in schools
- Hold a second National Apprenticeship Week – after all why does it need to be just one week? Would the end of the Summer Term be a good opportunity to run a second week alongside the UCAS process kicking in?
- Remain the same and run in March – after all why change what isn’t broken?
- Scrap National Apprenticeship Week – I think there is value in it and so not an option I particularly support.
What do you think? Does it even need to change and if so how?
Chris
Founder of Class Careers
Bringing employers together through roundtables and building innovation recruitment strategies
7 年As we speak, the date for National Apprenticeship Week 2018 has just been announced! 5th to 9th March 2018
Helping organisations engage, attract, induct and retain early career talent
7 年The cynic in me says it all depends when the appropriate minister has time booked in their diary to put themselves front and centre of as many good news stories as they can. On a serious note, I think this all depends on what NAW is for? As Steve says, it's a great opportunity to celebrate success and champion the apprenticeship movement - and if that's its purpose then why change it? If the timing is wrong from an attraction point of view, then maybe there's a market for a National Apprenticeship Attraction Week that fulfils its purpose at an alternative time of the year?
Freelance early careers consultant specialising in LGBTQ+ inclusion and mental health/wellbeing in the workplace.
7 年I think all options have merit but I'd stick with March. For me this is a good time from a branding perspective as it allows us to focus much more on celebrating rather than pedalling apprenticeships.
Head of Learning & Development, Apprenticeships and Career Entry Programmes at DEFRA group.
7 年I think this is a great idea - it could proactively support the education of apprenticships to parents, schools and the target audience. It also gives employers two focused opportunities to make a splash and attract future talent.
Early Careers Creative Solutions (Employers) | Group GTI | Co-Chair ISE Midlands Steering Group | ISE Solutions Provider Steering Group Member
7 年There's one thing processing actual application via a window. There's another regarding attraction and engagement. A lot of wins are to be had through out of season/window attraction and register an interest. At least 20% convert to apply once you are live and of those applying, my experience shows that over 50% make the final process stage with most of those actually offered. With engagement levels high, these then go on to be your brand ambassadors and improve retention/completion rates. There's plenty of ways to handle out of season/window attraction but can often come down to simply resource and budget. There's are some very quick wins though if you manage data effectively.