“I arrived here just over 20 years ago after meeting an Irish girl in London,” says Robert Bongers. “Soon after that, I went on a Fás course [Fás was the precursor to Solas] in PC maintenance and networks. When that was over, I did work experience for a company that has now been taken over by Hewlett Packard and was hired by them.”
He was working as a mobile engineer in the Dublin region, based in a bank centre in Ballsbridge. “I worked for them for around a year and a half when I found out that one of my Fás instructors was leaving, so I applied for the job and eventually became an instructor on the course I had studied two years earlier.”
Today, Bongers is an instructor on a two-year network engineer (ICT associate) apprenticeship programme. “The course aims to give students the entry-level qualifications to work in IT, with modules including ICT systems and data security, implementing cloud technologies, and IT virtualisation.”
There are also some non-IT modules to help develop their personal and professional skills. “The non-IT modules can be important as IT-minded people can be very focused on the technical details of the job, but behind every problem is usually a customer who has a service down,” says Bongers. “My most successful students are those who have struck the right balance between customer care and technical skills.”
Bongers’ class currently has 12 participants, including three females. “The ratio of female participants is higher on this course compared to my previous courses,” he says. “People come from a variety of backgrounds including electrician, receptionist and technical support engineers. This variety comes in handy during the various modules on the course, with different people sharing their knowledge with classmates. The majority of the students are in their mid-20s but we have a few older students as well.”
Apprentices on this course can expect to receive €260-€290 a week in their first and year and €340-€385 in the second year. “Students are assigned to a company from the start,” says Bongers. “They are, effectively, employees of that company who are doing an external training course.”
Bongers says the apprenticeship training model is an ideal system. “It allows the students, host companies, instructors and training providers to be in close contact with each other. The instructor can stay in touch with industry so they can pick up on new trends – and know when to drop the focus on particular technologies.”
