ramsac, a leading IT solutions consultancy has reached the final stages of the Toast of Surrey Awards 2012, in the category of ‘Apprenticeship Scheme of the Year’. With a record number of entries for 2012, the annual awards celebrate the success of local businesses and recognise their contribution to the economy, community and prosperity of Surrey. As the winner of last year’s ‘Company of the Year’ award, ramsac this year wanted to highlight its commitment to and the benefits from, running a dedicated in-house apprenticeship scheme which nurtures upcoming IT talent and offers an excellent alternative to further education.
Robert May, Managing Director and co-founder of ramsac comments, “Naturally we are excited to have reached the final round of judging for this year’s Toast of Surrey Awards, especially in a category that we believe is highly important not only to aspiring young IT professionals but also to the continued growth and development of our local economy. We truly believe that well managed apprenticeship programmes not only offer great opportunities to the apprentice but also give businesses the chance to train and nurture talented young people. This provides the kind of highly employable individuals that many businesses often struggle to find through traditional channels. We are very proud of our scheme and the excellent candidates that have worked and continue to work with us. ”
ramsac’s commitment to its apprenticeship scheme and its targeted training is well founded. A recent survey of UK business leaders for the Confederation of British Industry, suggested many are worried about the shortage of high-skilled employees, with 69% of respondents concerned about inadequate business and customer awareness and 55% highlighting poor self-management skills.
ramsac’s apprenticeship lasts for 12 months. To give a well-rounded view of the business, apprentices spend time in all the company’s departments, to see how ramsac approaches its customers and how their role will impact upon their colleagues. Under supervision from Support Services Manager, Jonathan Dobson, and a matched ‘buddy’, the apprentice is introduced to initial telephone support work, working in a live environment, answering the phone as one of the busy remote support team, logging calls in the case management system and allocating work to their colleagues.
After six weeks, the apprentice attends the first of their industry qualification courses. ramsac uses the same commercial training company that trains its most experienced of technical consultants, to ensure that they receive the highest standard of training. After the course, apprentices come back to work in the office, taking time to prepare for the associated exam, working in the live client environment to put their new skills in to practice. At the end of the year, the apprentices will have completed 5 industry qualifications as well as having attended customer service training and completing hands on training in a live customer environment.
ramsac launched the programme in September 2010, when it recruited Josh Mackinnon. Having successfully completed his training, he was offered a full time position as a First Line Support consultant in September last year. Speaking just after he became a ramsac apprentice, Josh commented, “I felt that the opportunity to learn on the job and gain hands-on experience would be my best route to a long and successful career in IT.” In August 2011 ramsac recruited two new apprentices, Josh White and Hugh Hargreaves, who are now half way through their training scheme.
The winners of the Toast of Surrey Awards 2012 will be announced at a glittering awards evening on Friday 2nd March 2012.