E3R & The Entice Project join forces to promote apprenticeships to year 10 students

E3 Recruitment (E3R) and The Entice Project have come together to deliver an Apprenticeship Day for year ten students at King James High School.

The event, which included six interactive sessions promoting apprenticeships, took place at the Almondbury based Secondary School on Friday 27th May, and is the first time the partnership – E3R an engineering, manufacturing and technical recruitment specialist and The Entice Project, an apprenticeship scheme which matches local students with local businesses – have jointly delivered a full event.

The sessions delivered to the students were specifically designed to be thought-provoking and engaging, so that students consider an apprenticeship as a next step after school, but also to make them aware of the real number of apprenticeships available within the different sectors in this area.

Karen Fox, Managing Director of The Entice Project commented: “It’s really important students are aware of apprenticeships as a viable career option. But we want to bust the myth that apprenticeships are the easy option too. It’s not just a case of putting your name down. Like all adult job positions, you are competing with others for the role and it’s really important to sell yourself, your skills and your experiences, no matter if you’re just beginning your career or you’ve been working 20 years. Running these sessions with Year 10 gives them time to consider and prepare themselves for the next step.”

In total, the six 50-minute apprenticeship sessions were delivered to 180 students throughout the day. Prior to this event, last September E3R supported Entice with a Careers Convention at King James High School where the recruitment agency invited key clients to attend and talk to the students. These included Reliance Precision, Marshalls, VTL, BP, Extract Technology and Buy it Direct. E3R also attended the evening to discuss career options with the students.

The Careers Convention was a success and this was followed by three Business Breakfast events at the beginning of this year at King James High School, Colne Valley High School and Brighouse Sixth Form. E3R has attended all Breakfast Briefings which included a briefing from The Entice Project, a talk from a local MP and one-to-one sessions with local businesses.

Tracie Norton, E3 Recruitment Director commented: “Although we have supported The Entice Project with previous events, this is the first time we have jointly delivered the whole event. As recruiters we experience first-hand the skills gap in the engineering and manufacturing sectors and the impact this has, so by working in partnership with Entice and being involved in these events we can get students thinking about apprenticeships in these sectors. We also know the competition each candidate faces for each role, so it’s important to get the students thinking about what businesses are looking for and assist them in getting ‘job ready’.”

The Entice Project source and selects candidates through its direct work in schools across Kirklees and Calderdale creating awareness for apprenticeships through a variety of initiatives which focus on bringing the business and education communities together.
Karen Fox concluded: “The Entice Project is delighted to be working in partnership with E3 Recruitment to provide a recruitment strategy right through the workforce structure. Their network of clients and knowledge of businesses recruitment requirements strengthens the partnership and our overall offering to schools and businesses alike.”

Entice work with a range of employers to assist with their apprentice recruitment including Syngenta who recently won employer of the year at the Kirklees Apprenticeship Hub Awards 2016 and acknowledged Entice as being instrumental in their scheme.