We often hear that change is scary and unwelcome. Sometimes, however, it’s just what’s needed – but money gets in the way. Take, for example, changing careers. While micro-credentials and shorter courses can help us to upskill, there are some areas – moving from a legal career into, for example, engineering – that require extensive learning, perhaps over several years.
We may hate that legal career but struggle to see an affordable way out and towards what we really want to do. This is where apprenticeships come in. They won’t be completed in six weeks or a few months, and are likely to take at least two years, and up to four years. The big plus, however: apprentices get paid while they learn.
Dr Keith Sunderland, registrar with Engineers Ireland, started his career as an apprentice.
“I was bright in school, but college life wasn’t for me,” he says. “So, I became an apprentice with Iarnród Éireann and, through that, was exposed to what engineering could be. I went through DIT – now TU Dublin – and progressed from a diploma [now a level seven] to a level eight bachelor’s in engineering, before doing a PhD and, later, a master’s in strategic management.”
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Today, Sunderland says there have never been more apprenticeship routes into the engineering profession, and that they provide not just a different way of learning but equip learners with a different perspective to traditional degree holders.
Since the establishment of Solas, the further education and training agency, the range of apprenticeships has expanded beyond all recognition. While plumbing, carpentry and motor mechanics often jump to mind when people think of apprenticeships, modern apprenticeship options also include accounting, insurance, recruitment, ICT, hairdressing, sales, auctioneering and property services, healthcare, biopharma, finance, food and hospitality, sales, logistics and supply chain.
Accounting technicians, for instance, engage in a two-year work-based learning programme, involving four days of on-the-job learning and one day a week at a local college. Their role includes supporting accountants with payroll, bookkeeping and other clerical and administrative tasks. For graduates with this qualification, of course, it may be just a starting point, and they could use it to gain other skills or qualifications.
Employers can avail of an annual grant of €2,000 for each apprentice they employ. And, in November, James Lawless, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, announced a big expansion of apprenticeships across the higher-education sector.
The funding will establish an additional 99 apprenticeship craft training blocks, creating almost 1,600 additional apprenticeship places, particularly in high-demand trades such as electrical, carpentry and joinery, and plumbing.
But is this decision change for change’s sake, or can it really create unique opportunities for both school-leavers and career changers?
“My apprenticeship has stood me more ground than any other qualification,” Sunderland says. “Because of it, I am identified as a person who can think practically and look at situations and problems from a different perspective.”
This is, perhaps, because apprenticeships are so focused on hands-on learning. Yes, learners engage in academia and develop a theoretical understanding to underpin their knowledge, but there’s more focus on learning by doing – and, for many bright and engaged people, this style of learning simply suits them better.
“It is perhaps a slower burn, and it can be easier for some people to just do the Leaving Cert and get into engineering at third level,” says Sunderland.
“There’s also a perception that, if you’re not good at maths, it will be too challenging. But maths is a tool, you can learn it, and colleges have lots of supports in place.”
For learners who may not be able to afford the costs of college, as well as people who want a significant career change but worry about how they will afford it, apprenticeships are a lifeline.
That said, career-changers taking on an apprenticeship won’t be coining it in the first few years. In traditional craft apprenticeships, the rates of pay can be as low as minimum wage in the first few years, and they may come out with as little as €1,250 a month. While the rates do go up each year, by year four they may still be earning as little as €20.70 per hour.
“I knew a student who was studying for a degree in physics and decided to give it up to become an apprentice,” says Sunderland. “The average age of apprentices used to be quite young, and many were school-leavers. Now, 80 per cent have a Leaving Cert, and early school leaving is not as regular. There are financial implications, in that you start at a lower level and work your way up, but they do allow people to move into different areas and careers.”
In his role as head of discipline for electrical energy engineering at the school of electrical and electronic engineering, Sunderland was involved in curriculum revisions which, he explains, helped him to see the value of apprenticeships to employers.
“Apprentices learn by working with and responding to other people,” Sunderland says.
“As a result, they tend to have a higher emotional intelligence, and this sets them apart. Ultimately, in all my interactions with employers, especially as a department head in TU Dublin, I see that they are looking for people who can go in front of a client and be trusted. You can always have people who are technically brilliant, but there is more value in being able to communicate, engage and develop relationships – all skills developed by apprenticeship training.”
For more information see apprenticeship.ie
