Arrows Group Apprentice Programme

In 2010 Arrows Group launched our Apprentice Programme in partnership with two of London’s further education organisations. This programme supports the NVQ Level 2 Qualification and provides practical experience in the work place for young people looking achieve this qualification and progress, fulltime, into the work place.

In August 2010, ten apprentices were appointed and joined a combination of recruitment, support and sales teams in line with their suitability and ambitions. A year on and we currently still have ten fulltime apprentices with three having successfully graduated and joined AG in fulltime roles and 3 more having completed their NVQ’s and moved other fulltime careers. Once these permanent roles are taken we have replaced them with new apprentices on new NVQ work plans.

As a business we have really benefited from this scheme as it has opened up a new avenue for the attraction of fulltime employees and also given us the opportunity to work with young people entering the job market for the first time. They are placed in a variety of role and genuinely make difference to the overall company performance. In the most successful cases we have been able to identify apprentices that are suitable for careers in recruitment and we have been able offer fulltime roles that offer excellent career prospects.

Alex Hashash joined Arrows Group as an apprentice in August 2010, “The opportunity to gain fulltime work experience with Arrows Group whilst completing my qualification was great. It was quite a steep learning curve and it took me a week or two to get into the swing of it but since then I have loved this role. I was a fulltime recruiter within the Healthcare Division and this really suited me – I like targets and phone led work. In March is promoted to a fulltime 360 consultant and went onto a permanent contract with Arrows Group. I really enjoy this job and think I have found a decent match to my skills”

James Parsons, Group CEO: “The apprentice programme has been a great success for us the this year. It is an opportunity for us to invest in young people looking for ways to enter today’s competitive workplace and we have proved that there is some real talent out there waiting for the right opportunity. Obviously there have been some bumps in the road long the way – mainly in terms of skills matching and the transition issues from education to the work place, but we have learnt from these and are getting better at identifying suitable candidates from the off. Through this process we have been able to successfully transition three apprentices into full time roles within the Group and there are potentially more to follow. Our apprentice team make a real difference to the day to day operation of the business and we are 100% committed to continuing this programme in 2011/12.”

This year Arrows Group have committed the same level of investment into the programme and are appointing a new intake of ten apprentices.