Apprenticeships

Full-time college or university not for you? Would you prefer to earn while you learn? With an apprenticeship you can do just that. Someone who did this is Cameron Findlay, who recently completed his 4 year apprenticeship with MacRaild and Smith, and is now a fully qualified electrician. We met with him to discuss his apprenticeship and how it has made a difference to him.

There are many reasons for choosing to do an apprenticeship rather than going on to full-time college or university. For Cameron, it was pretty simple. “I wanted to earn some money, and I wasn’t too keen on school. I prefer learning on the job, so an apprenticeship seemed the right route to take.” An apprenticeship allowed him to do just that. Following two years of block release at college, there was then a full year of working on the job before taking the all-important final exams.

Learning on the job has great advantages, but the college side of things is also important. As Cameron says, “You might think that just because it’s an apprenticeship and not full-time university it’s going to be easy- but it’s not. There’s a lot of studying and work that you need to put in to pass the exams.” Certainly there is a lot of commitment and hard work involved if you want to successfully complete your apprenticeship.

“Some of the college tests and exams could be hard, but I preferred the on the job learning” Cameron says. And learning on the job is something he’s had plenty of. During his apprenticeship he was involved in many different jobs, both domestic and commercial. These have included lots of everyday domestic maintenance jobs, as well as large scale jobs such as the 26 new houses that were built in Fort William opposite the swimming pool, a new office for Fergusons transport in Corpach and the new MacBrayne Apartments on the High Street in Fort William. “The new flats were probably the most challenging,” Cameron explains, “There was a lot of complex work that needed doing for the lift system.” From lifts to lights, it’s all in a day’s work for an electrician.

If you’re considering an apprenticeship, or are a new apprentice yourself, Cameron has this advice- “Stick at it. You need to work hard at it if you want to succeed, and it won’t necessarily be easy. You might find all the studying and exams difficult, but it’s a great reward at the end of it.”

An apprenticeship is a great choice if you want to gain experience and a qualification whilst also earning a wage. Over the years, the Fort Augustus and Glenmoriston Community Company’s apprenticeship scheme has supported a number of apprentices, so if you are considering whether an apprenticeship is right for you, why not give us a call on 01320366800 or email contact@communitycompany.co.uk to discuss options.