Joshua | Achieving Success as an Apprentice First Line Engineer

Joshua | Achieving Success as an Apprentice First Line Engineer

Joshua is one of our current IT apprentices working at XPS Solutions. His role currently is an Apprentice First Line Engineer but is progressing to becoming an IT Technician once his apprenticeship finishes.

Even though Joshua still has 5 months left of his apprenticeship, he has already secured permanent employment with XPS Solutions, due to the outstanding progress, knowledge and effort he has displayed so far in his apprenticeship.

A year into his time at college, Joshua decided that although he was enjoying what he was studying, he no longer saw a future in them career-wise. Joshua was also no longer as keen on the idea of university and decided the best course of action was to start looking into apprenticeship options. Joshua had an interest in IT and some previous experience studying in school so chose to look for IT apprenticeships.

Initially, Joshua’s responsibilities consisted of completing simple tickets such as creating email accounts, solving basic issues within Office 365 and setting PCs up. Over a year later, Joshua now completes more complicated tickets such as solving printer issues, diagnosing PC hardware issues and helping configure networks. The acceleration in responsibilities taken on has been phenomenal.

The most enjoyable aspect about his role and apprenticeship is “knowing I’ve made a difference to someone”. A particular task he completed that sticks in Joshua’s head is how he “once managed to get a client agent back into some password protected spreadsheets she had locked herself out of, to which she said I had made her weekend. Its conversations like that which really motivate me, knowing you can make someone’s work life just that bit easier.”

Joshua also believes that teamwork is the most important thing he has learned during his apprenticeship so far. At XPS Solutions there is a real teamwork mentality instilled within the company’s culture. Not only does Joshua have to manage his tickets, but there are wider projects that require his support. The size of these projects results in the rest of the team pulling together. The teamwork skills he has developed so far in this role will help his career go far.

We decided to ask Joshua for some advice for others starting an apprenticeship:

How do you think you have developed as a person and professionally during your Apprenticeship?

I have become more confident when it comes to talking to people over the phone, as well as helping people remain calm in a stressful situation. On my first day I was really nervous for my first call, but over a year later I have no problems talking to customers (well, with the exception of talking too fast sometimes). I have become more organised and determined with what I do.

What advice would you give to others thinking about doing an Apprenticeship?

I would say that if you’re ever in doubt on if an apprenticeship is right for you, all I can say is give it a go. I had dropped out of college 2 weeks prior to starting my apprenticeship and the whole time I was doubting my decision, as I had always wanted to go to university to do English, never once had I thought an apprenticeship was right for me. However, I now know that giving it a go was one of the best decision I’ve ever made.

What advice would you give to others starting an Apprenticeship?

I would say that if it at first, it doesn’t seem right for you, keep at it for at least a month, as you might grow into it like I did. At first, IT seemed a little daunting as you have to deal with security and data protection, but you soon get used to it and it becomes second nature.

What would you say to employers thinking of recruiting an Apprentice?

If you have the manpower to spare, I’d say absolutely give it a go, it gives newcomers to the industry a chance to explore the work environment and see if the industry is right for them.

What would you say about HBTC?

HBTC have provided me with the tools to help me learn and understand the IT world, with interesting lessons and learning resources that helped an IT newbie like myself gain experience. I’d recommend them to anyone seeking an apprenticeship.

What are your future career aspirations?

At the moment, I’m looking to simply progress in the IT industry (particularly in networking), aiming to be a qualified second line technician in the next few years. I’ve never been good at knowing what I want to do, however IT looks to be my future at the moment.

Joshua’s manager described him as “an integral part of the XPS team” and is going to be an “outstanding IT Engineer in the future… there aren’t enough superlatives to describe how much Josh has progressed”

The reason XPS Solutions look to hire apprentices is because it’s an “ideal way of us recruiting staff that are enthusiastic about IT but need and hand getting into the industry. Starting from scratch, so to speak, enables us to mould them into the kind of engineer we need at XPS.”

Finally we asked XPS Solutions what was their experience of hiring an apprentice through HBTC:

“Easier than going to the job market and recruiting direct that is for sure. Its also fantastic to know you are hopefully putting someone on the path to a career they will love.”

“HBTC not only do the advertising but vet the applicants too. The candidates who come to interview are the kind of calibre we are looking for.”

If you’re looking to be part of the success story here at HBTC. Then why not check out our apprenticeship vacancies!