Kyocera take on apprentices

Following the launch of the Pearson in Practice programme for ‘Advanced Apprenticeships for Print and Document Solutions’ earlier this week KYOCERA Document Solutions is delighted to announce that its first two apprentices have already started their training with the print solutions company.

Nineteen year olds Jordan Church and Thomas Parsley started their inductions with KYOCERA Document Solutions last week. Jordan said: “KYOCERA is clearly committed to the Apprenticeship scheme and this offers us the possibility of branching out into a number of different fields rather than just the field service option. Everyone we have met has been extremely welcoming, friendly and helpful. It is a great opportunity – we will get out as much as we put in. I feel I’ve definitely made the right decision as I have the chance to break into the industry – something that is difficult to do without experience.”

Thomas added: “I’m really looking forward to getting some hands on experience. We’ve already watched a technician preparing a machine for installation and we’re going to get the opportunity to try it for ourselves tomorrow. Learning the theory is great but you learn so much quicker by having a go. We can’t wait to have a go at actually fixing something – it will be great to be a service engineer – self-sufficient and able to get things fixed.”

KYOCERA Document Solutions drove the formation of the Apprenticeships Programme as Ian Allan, Training Manager, explains: “As an ex-apprentice myself I knew the value of Apprenticeships and recognised that our industry was crying out for a structured qualification which would give young people an excellent grounding. I spoke to CompTIA and we worked with Pearson in Practice and other print solutions vendors to create a genuine industry standard. Every manufacturer has had the opportunity to input what the Apprentices should have to cover and we now have an Apprenticeship, designed by the industry for the industry, which will deliver a young, enthusiastic and qualified workforce.”

Sandra Rogers, Human Resources Manager, KYOCERA Document Solutions commented: “We’re finding that the hardest thing is to recruit the right people with the right skill set combined with a genuine desire to develop and grow with our company. Over the last three years we’ve grown 77% organically and identifying young talent is vital for our continued growth. Jordan and Thomas have the option to become Field Service Engineers, to work on our Technical Help Desk or in our Workshops – we are flexible enough to accommodate the career path they want to follow.”

The Apprenticeships Programme runs for at least 12 months and involves on the job training as well as classroom learning at a Pearson in Practice Training Centre. The Apprentices will study for the following qualifications: CompTIA PDI+, CompTIA A+ and Advanced Apprenticeship for IT, Software, Web and Telecoms Professionals.

Pearson in Practice is the UK’s leading provider of Apprenticeship training, working with thousands of companies across many industry sectors. Pearson in Practice recruits quality young people and deliver them, job ready, for interview.