Your business, and especially your workshop, needs enthusiastic capable Technicians – not easy to find these days, but Transport Training Services believes it has the answer. The motor and transport industry training centre can help employers to recruit and train enthusiastic young apprentices. TTS receives applications from a variety of young people looking to start a career in the motor industry, and at this time of year, around half of applicants are getting ready for GCSEs or A-Levels and have already made up their mind to leave school and enter the world of work.   Other applicants have already left school and have some experience in routine jobs, but are keen to begin a new challenge in an industry they’ve always had a keen interest in and would love the chance to become a skilled technician or advisor.

At any given time, TTS has over 200 employed apprentices in training and the organisation partners with around 60 employers to provide a 3-year programme for technicians and a 2 year programme for Parts and Service Advisors. The TTS block delivery training system is an effective way of strengthening workshop teams with training that makes apprentices useful and productive quickly, and at the end of the apprenticeship be a qualified and skilled member of the team. Apprentices attend the modern purpose-built TTS training centre for one-week blocks every eight weeks where they receive a blend of classroom theory and practical workshop tasks, working towards IMI Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications.

September 2020 will likely see changes in the government-funded vocational programmes meaning that 16-18 year-old trainees will no longer be available for long-term unpaid ‘work experience’ within businesses. That’s another good reason to consider investing in your future by actually employing a capable young person who’s keen to learn and make a good addition to your team as an apprentice.

Here’s the experience of Samuel Harron, from Bangor, a 1^st year apprentice at Belfast Audi:

“I left school in June 2019 after completing A-levels, but I didn’t particularly want to go on to higher education. I had been racing go-karts since I was 8 and was always interested in cars. I applied for TTS, and after passing their pre-entry aptitude test, Robert Deignan signposted me towards vacancies in the Agnew Group. I’m now more than half way through my 1^st year as an apprentice technician in Belfast Audi and I’m loving every minute of it.”

Samuel’s workshop supervisor, Jim Madden, is also delighted with Samuel’s impact in the business:

“Samuel has excelled in his first few months. His passion for cars has driven him to put in the effort required to perform at the highest level. In this time he has studied with TTS and online with Audi UK which has given him an understanding of what is required to be successful in his apprenticeship. Through this studying and working alongside his mentor Ben McKeating, he has used our systems and processes of work including the workshop manual and state of the art workshop diagnostic equipment.

With this knowledge Samuel, under close supervision, can now complete service work and has carried out some repairs. With further training and support from ourselves and TTS he will continue to progress into diagnosing and repair in the future. We look forward to working closely with TTS in the coming years and helping to coach and mentor Samuel to achieve his potential and reach the highest levels within the workshop at Belfast Audi.”

Heavy Vehicle applicant, Jay Cardwell, from Belfast is getting ready for GCSEs at Belfast Boys Model school: “I applied to TTS after they attended a Careers Fair in my school. I recently passed the TTS aptitude tests, they were challenging and made me realise that I need to work hard at school to achieve GCSE passes in English and Maths. Robert at TTS has helped me with my CV and has arranged an interview for an apprenticeship in a franchised truck dealer in Mallusk”.

There just might be an ideal Apprentice candidate for your business so please call with Robert, have a look at our Centre at Nutts Corner and check out the possibilities.

You can contact Robert Deignan, Careers Development Officer at robertd@transporttraining.org or by telephone on 028 90825653.