Ideagen Plc adopts Microsoft apprenticeship scheme with Remit IT Academy

Ideagen Plc, a UK-based leading supplier of compliance based information management software, has announced the adoption of the new Microsoft apprenticeship scheme that will provide employment opportunities for participants within the East Midlands region.

The new Microsoft apprenticeship from Remit IT Academy, the training provider of apprenticeships across the UK, is a twelve-month long initiative and offers participants pay and qualifications, as well as an opportunity to gain permanent positions. The programme allows participants to gain an Advanced Apprenticeship at Level 3, the equivalent of two A levels. The time apprentices dedicate to the programme is divided between their place of work and the IT Academy.

Apprentices learn practical skills by spending time in a real working environment. By shadowing qualified members of staff, apprentices learn first-hand how to go about the job. At the end of the programme and after passing the final exams, participants obtain CompTIA and Microsoft certification.

Ideagen’s announcement continues the company’s commitment to providing work opportunities for young people.

David Hornsby, CEO of Ideagen Plc, said: “Our new Microsoft openings are a great way for apprentices to improve their skills in the world of IT. Our programme is aimed at developing the young talent and helping them implement their knowledge in real life projects.”

Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, participants will gain the following academic qualifications and MS certifications:

• Level 3 Diploma in ICT Professional Competence
• Level 3 Certificate in ICT Systems and Principles for Apprentices
• Microsoft Office, Word, Excel and Outlook
• CompTIA A+ certification
• Microsoft Networking Fundamentals certification
• Microsoft Windows 7, Configuring certification
• Microsoft Windows 7, Enterprise DST certification
• MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), Title

 

Tom Pearson is Ideagen’s first apprentice in this scheme. Tom’s time at Ideagen is split between two sections: 20% is spent working towards his academic qualifications and Microsoft certification, and 80% on being an active member of the team.

Here’s what he told Ideagen:

What motivated you to choose Microsoft apprenticeship programme with Ideagen?

I chose not to go to college or university and go down the apprenticeship route as I am a very practical person. I learn better doing things than sitting in the classroom. I am very happy with my decision so far. My apprenticeship at Ideagen Plc is as a Software Support Technician.

How were your first two weeks at your apprenticeship with Ideagen?

I really enjoyed them. Everyone is easy to get along with and I'm having a great time. My team is really helpful and I have learnt a lot already. Ideagen has been really good to me and have bought me a new computer to help me with my work and studying. I have even been allowed a day off for my driving test!

How will this apprenticeship help you with your personal and professional development?

This apprenticeship will help me in so many ways. Being made redundant from a previous apprenticeship was a really big blow. I put so much effort into studying to be told I am no longer entitled to the qualification I worked for was devastating. After being made unemployed for the first time since I finished school I decided I have better things to do with my time than sit at home all day watching TV!

Being offered the position has made my family and friends extremely proud of me. This apprenticeship will change my life for the better, forever. It will help me get my foot onto the career ladder. Jobs nowadays are really hard to come by, especially at my age with limited experience. I am extremely grateful that I was offered the position at Ideagen, this will give me a much better chance at having a successful future.

 What do you expect to learn during this scheme?

During this apprenticeship I will be learning a lot of things, mainly involved around IT support. I will be helping clients resolve issues they may be having. This will involve talking to customers on the phone, using remote viewing software to control and fix errors with their computers and much more. The skills I learn will be an invaluable asset to me in the future. IT aside, I am really looking forward to gaining experience within a professional business environment as well as receiving my qualifications at the end of the scheme. Being paid for learning is just a huge bonus!

Diabetes Awareness Week 9-15 June 2013

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a common life-long health condition. There are 3 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 850,000 people who have the condition but don’t know it.
Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in your blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. This is because your pancreas does not produce any insulin, or not enough, to help glucose enter your body’s cells – or the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance).
Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas that allows glucose to enter the body’s cells, where it is used as fuel for energy so we can work, play and generally live our lives. It is vital for life.
Glucose comes from digesting carbohydrate and is also produced by the liver. Carbohydrate comes from many different kinds of foods and drink, including starchy foods such as bread, potatoes and chapatis; fruit; some dairy products; sugar and other sweet foods.
If you have diabetes, your body cannot make proper use of this glucose so it builds up in the blood and isn’t able to be used as fuel.

Information Source:

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/

The drive to get you places

Steve Yardley, Chief Operating Officer for Remit Group

It has been fantastic to see apprenticeships being given a great deal more attention in recent years. There are now more opportunities than ever for young people to get onto the career ladder and train in their chosen field.

But it’s really important that apprenticeships are not just seen as the university route’s poorer cousin. They are not just a way to reduce unemployment figures, get people out of the job centre and into work, offering employers cheap labour, or even a way to pass on the jobs employers don’t want to do themselves.

An apprenticeship is a springboard to a career. It offers valuable training, on-the-job experience, not only in technical skills, but in life lessons too. And to top it all off, you’re paid to do it – not racking up debts in excess of £20,000, a burden that so many graduates carry with them into working life.

At Remit the majority of our work is in the automotive industry, a traditional apprenticeship route, which is still incredibly popular with young people. But it does carry age-old stigmas, and to many wouldn’t even be considered over a university education.

However I hope people like myself and many of our assessors and senior managers at Remit can serve to allay some of those stigmas.

I began my career as an apprentice mechanic in Nottingham in the eighties. I don’t think if you’d have asked a 16-year-old me where I thought I’d be in 30 years time, I’d say running a £14.5 million company, responsible for training nearly 6,000 apprentices across the UK.

But I had the drive for it, and that’s what matters.

I strongly believe that life is what you make of it. A driven and motivated young person can achieve anything, and I see so many of examples of this at Remit every day.

I never forget where I came from, as I wouldn’t be here without it.