With students receiving their A-Level results this morning, we’re also celebrating an important milestone. The Cisco Apprenticeship has grown to 50 apprentices rotating through Cisco, with Erik Haxhilari, a member of our latest cohort, also the 10,000th apprentice to start a digital Apprenticeship with our training partner, QA Apprenticeships.
What this signifies is a breakaway from the ‘traditional’ view of what an Apprenticeship should be. Erik will be collecting in A-Level results, but he has already embarked on the next stage of his learning. He’s already demonstrated the strengths and qualities that will make him an excellent Cisco employee, his certifications will reaffirm the ‘potential genius’ we’ve already seen in him. Long gone are the days of ‘no University/default to apprenticeships’; he has proactively chosen this route.
There is growing recognition for the role technology plays both in the jobs market of today, and the one of the future.
There’s no escaping it. Tech will interact with every type of job in some way or another.
But the country is facing a digital skills shortage. Cisco want to help tackle it by getting more people embarked on digital careers. As part of this we’re working with the government to identify the digital skills our economy needs now, as well as future-proofing it further down the line.
The Cisco Apprenticeship means that we’re also practising what we preach – providing an opportunity to get hands-on with technology, and learn how one of the world’s most successful tech companies operates from the ground up.
Our programme offers such a broad range of experiences – across techie and non-techie roles – and I believe it’s the combination of hands-on and academic learning that’s made it such a success for Cisco.
It’s unique because at day one we don’t recruit to a specific role. While other companies may require people to understand the specific role they’re applying for; we know that the subtle differences between a Network Engineer and a Systems Engineer is impossible to comprehend until you see it for real in the workplace.
We also recognise our tech is unique; what people may learn in a classroom will only scratch the surface of the knowledge they will gain during the Apprenticeship.
I’ll leave it up to our 50th apprentice Erik to explain why it’s great for him being a Cisco apprentice…
“Cisco I know is going to offer me the ultimate start in my tech journey towards a glowing international career,” he told me.
“We face a highly competitive job market. Employers now look for more than just academic excellence. They desire candidates with a well-rounded education, a dynamic skill set coupled with a wealth of relevant industry experience; a candidate that can add value to their organisation.
“Technology has always been something that I have aligned with from a very early age, so it’s fantastic to have the opportunity to work for a company who is the best at what they do.”
I honestly think I’ve got the best job at Cisco. Running the Cisco Apprentice programme, I’m able to take ambitions like Erik’s and help make them a reality. I’ve learned that one of biggest things that motivates young people, whether they’re an apprentice or a graduate, is their desire to learn and experience different things.
This is an important point I wanted to make if you’re a school leaver and considering what to do next.
If, having opened that envelope this morning, you’re now unsure about which route to take, I think its best to be open-minded to gathering as many different experiences as you can. You have potential to be a genius.
Identify your passion and your strengths and open yourself up to all sorts of different opportunities that play to these: you might stumble upon a career that you would never have considered before, or have been able to learn about in a lecture theatre.
We’d also encourage people to come and take a look at Cisco, through our Pathway to your Future programme, as an apprentice or an intern..
We’re so proud that half of our most recent batch of apprentices found us through an interaction with Cisco at a careers fair or at a schools event. Had they not, they would never have applied.
It’s amazing to see that we’ve been able to help inspire young people to take up a career in technology, and I’m confident we’ll continue to do so for years to come.
Considering a career in tech? Follow us @CiscoApprentice or come and speak to us at the next Digital Careers Show on 27th September at Chelsea Football Stadium.
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