{"id":11719,"date":"2017-03-07T17:36:04","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T17:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11719"},"modified":"2017-03-07T17:36:04","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T17:36:04","slug":"positive-about-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11719","title":{"rendered":"Positive about the future"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

When 20-year-old Liam McBerney catches up with his old school friends the talk inevitably turns to the future. What becomes apparent, says Liam, is that today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s uncertain and changeable economy is a worrying prospect for many young people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe majority of my school friends are at university. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a few us that went onto apprenticeships. Those of us that did are a lot more positive about our careers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite member and McVitie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s engineering apprentice Liam.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on good salaries and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be on even better salaries when we finish. My friends at university have a lot more stress. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got financial worries and are having to figure out what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to do afterwards.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Liam, from Salford, and thousands of other apprentices across the country, the opportunity to earning a living while learning the practical and academic skills needed for a fulfilling career has been a godsend. As part of National Apprenticeship Week<\/a>, which runs from March 6 to 10, Unite will be highlighting the positive impacts of apprenticeships for individuals, businesses and the economy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liam began his apprenticeship at McVitie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when he left school at 16. While it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been hard work, the payoffs have more than compensated, Liam explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been good to earn while I learned. I think that is one of the big benefits. I work for a big multinational company that encourages training and development continually and have had the chance to study up to degree level. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had the opportunity to gain both practical and academic skills and work my way up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Career choice<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Despite their obvious advantages, Liam thinks that apprenticeships are still viewed as a secondary career route. He couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t disagree more with this impression and points out that when he completes the apprenticeship next year, his starting salary as a shift engineer will far exceed that of most recent university graduates.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere should definitely be more of an emphasis on apprenticeships as a career choice. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough at the moment. Where I went to school they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t encouraged. It was just \u00e2\u20ac\u0098go to college, go to university\u00e2\u20ac\u2122,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Liam said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think some schools and colleges have tunnel vision towards the choices school leavers have. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think the knowledge of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s available is there: People think that apprenticeships are menial, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the case. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fantastic opportunities and not enough people are getting the chance to do them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s views correspond with Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. The union is calling for increased investment in apprenticeships<\/a>, not only to provide people with better career choices but also to help close a widening skills gap that sets major obstacles for the economy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Britain prepares to leave the EU<\/a>, apprenticeships that teach the knowledge and skills that are essential for industry to thrive are even more necessary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Strong trade unions also have have an important role to play for apprentices, Liam explained. After Carlisle was flooded by Storm Desmond in December 2015, Liam went to rebuild the devastated Carr\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biscuit factory, which is also owned by McVitie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parent company United Biscuits. He was part of group of Unite members who volunteered to help get the factory up and running again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not only did the trip help the business onto it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feet after an emergency, but it gave him the invaluable experience of seeing a factory rebuilt from scratch, Liam told UNITElive<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The union has also been helpful closer to home, Liam said. When he first started his apprenticeship in 2013, Liam explained that the atmosphere between the management and the engineers was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhostile\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMorale was its lowest at that point and that rubbed off on us as apprentices,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Liam said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut since Unite got involved there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been big changes and things have improved massively.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information on National Apprenticeship Week click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo of model for illustration<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When 20-year-old Liam McBerney catches up with his old school friends the talk inevitably turns to the future. What becomes apparent, says Liam, is that today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s uncertain and changeable economy is a worrying prospect for many young people.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe majority of my school friends are at university. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a few us that went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[260,489],"wps_subtitle":"Why an apprenticeship can be the best career choice","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11721,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11719\/revisions\/11721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}