Lance Garganta

IT Apprenticeship Programme                 #earnwhileyoulearn

 

 

At University College Isle of Man (UCM) we embrace lifelong learning by ensuring that we provide opportunities for students to build on their education at any point during their life.

An apprenticeship scheme at UCM can offer the perfect career-building solution to those who find it easier to learn whilst working within their chosen industry, or those who are unable to commit to a full-time course due to personal commitments.

Research shows that students who are on an apprenticeship programme are often more financially secure and have higher employment prospects once they have completed their course, compared to their peers who study full-time. In fact, a study conducted by the UK Governments Department of Education showed that 74% of apprentices who had never worked before, had since moved in to and remained in full-time paid employment.

 

We caught up with UCM student, Lance, in his place of work and asked him about his experience on the apprenticeship programme at UCM.

 

Name:                                 Lance Garganta

Course:                               Level 4 HNC in Computing

Place of Work:                  Manx Telecom

 

Lance currently works full-time within the Applications Development team at Manx Telecom and studies at UCM one evening a week. Lance heard about the role at Manx Telecom when he attended the Isle of Man Job Fair.

 

Q: How long is your apprenticeship programme?

A: It is two years and I have classes every Tuesday afternoon at the college.

 

Q: How did you end up on this apprenticeship programme?

A: I was studying my A-Levels and knew I didn’t want to pursue university, as it just wasn’t for me. So, I went to the Job Fair with a few of my friends and one of the opportunities I heard about was the apprenticeship programmes at UCM.

After finishing my A-Levels, I took part in a series of brief interviews with all of the companies that I had sent my CV to. Out of the eight companies, seven of them offered me a job!

 

Q: What do you enjoy about working at Manx Telecom?

A: I really like the atmosphere here, it puts me in a good mind-set to get a lot of work done.

 

Q: Do you feel that working at Manx Telecom compliments your studies?

A: Yes. I’m a member of the Applications Development team here and nine times out of ten, what I’m studying at UCM is something I’m working on at Manx Telecom.

 

Q: Would you recommend an apprenticeship programme to others?

A: I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship programme, especially if you don’t want to go to University or spend a lot more time studying, because you can gain a lot more from work experience than you can from studying alone.

 

Find out more…

UCM offers a growing number of apprenticeship courses for those who would like to earn whilst they study or those who are already working but wish to build their education.

The options for learning are now broader than ever, making it even more important to research and find the best route of education to suit you and help increase your future career prospects. View our existing apprenticeship programmes here.