Supporting school leavers in making the right decisions
There are so many options for school leavers, it’s difficult to make the best choice. We want to help you support them in making the right decisions. That’s why we’ve put together some useful information, to help you determine whether an apprenticeship is right for your child’s career.
What is an apprenticeship?
An Atos apprenticeship provides the perfect combination of employment and training, giving applicants the opportunity to learn and apply skills that matter in the workplace, whilst in paid, permanent employment. Their training will lead to industry recognised qualifications, whilst they contribute to live projects in the workplace from day one, with the support of expert colleagues.
What qualifications will apprentices receive?
Whichever route an apprentice takes, they’ll gain City & Guilds or SCQF Apprenticeship qualifications, as well as certifications from partner companies like Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco. So, once they’ve finished, they’ll be a fully qualified professional, ready to progress their career with Atos. You can find more details about the specific qualifications for each apprenticeship in our individual scheme descriptions.
What is the salary paid to apprentices?
All our apprentices are offered a permanent contract from day one, meaning their apprenticeship is just the start of a long term career with Atos. We offer a starting salary of £14,000 (or £16,000 in London) for our Level 2 & Level 3 schemes (post GSCE entry), and a starting salary of £16,000 (or £18,000 in London) for our Level 4 schemes (post A-level entry). As well as a competitive starting salary we offer a comprehensive reward package – see our Benefits page for more details.
Does the apprenticeship cost anything?
No, the apprentices will not have to pay anything towards their apprenticeship. From the cost of their training to the books and materials, we’ve got it covered. We’ll also cover the cost of any travel and accommodation required to attend apprenticeship training activities.
Do parents/ guardians have the opportunity to get involved?
We are keen to ensure that parents and guardians feel involved with our apprenticeship programme, so we welcome you to attend day one of their induction. You will meet the Atos Emerging Talent team responsible for the development of our apprentices and also the trainers who will be part of the programme from day one until the completion of the apprenticeship. We also welcome you back on the final day of induction to watch presentations by the apprentices on their key learnings of the week. We invite you to join our apprentices on their development journey and welcome parents and guardians to play an active role, including site visits / meetings with Line Managers, throughout the apprenticeship programme.
Does Atos offer degreeships?
Apprentices join Atos either at Level 2 / Level 3 (post GSCE entry) or Level 4 (post A-Level entry). However, on completion of their initial apprenticeship, if they have been successful and wish to continue their development we support progression through to Level 6 Degreeships.
This is an ideal option for young people who are unsure whether they want to study to degree level – they don’t have to decide now, but the opportunity is there for them throughout their career at Atos. And for those who do progress, they will obtain a degree level qualification, whilst working at the same time, and without any of the fees associated with attending university.
Top 10 benefits of an Atos apprenticeship
- Earn while you learn – no cost training and no student debts
- Competitive starting salary, with a pay rise at 12 months
- Structured induction programme to support the transition from school / college to the workplace environment
- Training in skills that matter in the workplace, from government approved, Ofsted inspected training providers
- Achieve industry recognised qualifications – with options right up to degree level
- Support for hands on learning in the workplace, from expert colleagues
- Contribute to your team with real impact and responsibility from day one
- Make new friends – we have an active apprentice community in Atos, having hired over 400 apprentices in the last 5 years
- Future prospects – with a permanent contract from day one, the Atos apprenticeships are just the start of a long-term career path with Atos
- Join a team of 110,000 employees across 73 countries. The opportunities are endless.
Helping applicants to succeed
While you won’t be there to help them on tests or interviews, you might have some useful information to help them revise. Here are some top tips to help applicants succeed:
Research the role and the company they’re applying to
We’re interested to know why they’re interested in us. This may seem time-consuming, but generic applications rarely stand out from the crowd.
Review their application
They should always look through their application in detail, using a spellchecker. If they can, they should ask someone else to read it as well.
Make sure their application demonstrates achievements
This isn’t limited to formal qualifications. Are they in a computer club or have they won a school prize? All of these experiences can show us their motivation and capability.
Demonstrate transferable skills
As well as formal qualifications, we’re interested in valuable transferrable skills, whether it’s team skills learned in a sports team, or customer facing skills learned working in a shop.
Highlight all forms of work experience
Whether it’s a week’s placement, a paper round, a weekend job, or voluntary activities – they can all demonstrate transferable skills.
What our apprentices’ parents have to say
Launching a career often involves parents and guardians, so we caught up with the parents of two of our apprentices to hear their views.
Software Development Apprentice Alex’s mum, Gaynor
My advice to Alex was to find an apprenticeship with a good company, to get the experience as well as the learning and this was a better option for Alex and his personality. We discussed that an apprenticeship would give him knowledge and experience first-hand, on the job, learning through the different people that he’d be working with. Also, that the training opportunities are great and the larger the company, the better the deal he’ll get!
Atos looked like it offered good prospects, but it was only through researching the company that we learnt about the work they do in the background and just how varied the work is that they are involved in.
Alex has changed dramatically from sixth form to work. He’s gained confidence that he didn’t realise he had and he’s now managing his own team. I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship to anyone – in fact our daughter is also considering doing one!
Project Management Apprentice Rhys’s dad, Peter
An apprenticeship was 100% the right way to go for Rhys, as long as we could find a company that would enable him to achieve good qualifications. The apprenticeship gives Rhys the qualifications, but also the wider experience in the workplace that will enable him to adapt and grow quickly.
I wanted him to work for an established organisation, as they would have the proper programmes, training and processes embedded to support their apprentices. We hadn’t heard of Atos at the time of looking, but we were really impressed by the whole recruitment process he went through.
No other companies really stood out for Rhys, as he was after something quite specific. It was definitely the right route for him. He’s now moving on with his career and looking at new opportunities with Atos, which is fantastic. From day one Rhys has had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and has certainly benefitted from it. Atos is a fantastic opportunity for anyone considering an apprenticeship.
What our apprentices have to say
“My role is very exciting and intriguing to me, it’s nothing like I’ve ever done before.”
Emma, Business Administration Apprentice
“My apprenticeship not only improved my technical abilities but improved my soft skills too.“
Joseph, Software Development Apprentice
“My apprenticeship was a fantastic opportunity for someone with a desire and passion for everything technology based, like me.”
Kieran, Infrastructure Technology Apprentice
“I work across a portfolio of projects overseeing governance, quality assurance and the creation and implementation of project management processes.”
Suraiya, Project Management Apprentice
Apprenticeship training providers
We work closely with government approved, best in class apprenticeship training providers, selecting specialist partners for each of our schemes. So you can be confident that our apprentices are training with some of the best and most engaging professionals in the industry.
The majority of our IT and Business Apprenticeships are delivered through QA Apprenticeships, the first IT Apprenticeships business to be rated Ofsted ‘Outstanding’, who have won multiple awards for their IT, Developer, Digital Marketing and Business Services apprenticeships. Other niche schemes (eg. Human Resources) are provided through other specialist providers, who are experts in their field.
Each apprentice is assigned a Skills Coach from their apprenticeship provider, to support them throughout their apprenticeship, with regular contact every 6-8 weeks. The QA Skills Coach assesses progress through knowledge and skills training modules as well as encouraging apprentices to demonstrate their competence, knowledge and understanding on the job. They’ll ensure our apprentices succeed and help them to reach their full potential
For more information on Atos apprenticeships, please visit our FAQs page, or call or contact the apprenticeship team on recruitment@atos.net
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