DIGIT’s column showcases the Student Loans Company (SLC), which is not only boosting the next generation of tech talent, but is also providing upskilling opportunities for their current employees through apprenticeships.
Since taking on her new role at SLC in June 2019, Stacey Wylie has been driven to develop a new strategy for SLC to increase apprenticeship intake.
“Apprenticeships are a key strand of our people strategy and here at SLC we believe in developing our workforce as well as giving emerging talent an avenue to start their working life,” said Wylie.
“We aim to nurture their skills and provide them with a career pathway through the organisation,” she added.
Last year, during Covid-19, Wylie introduced a new strategy and policy entitled ‘Utilising Apprenticeships as a Developing Opportunity’. This allowed anyone within SLC to apply for an apprenticeship as an upskilling opportunity.
On this, Wylie says: “We look at our policy from two very different perspectives. We grow our own talent and bring people into SLC. Meanwhile, we develop our employees and give them the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification.
“We meet up with the apprentices once a month, provide business skills training and coaching and liaise with training providers. This support is so important as some apprentices are school leavers aged 16-17 so we help them develop core skills and give them an understanding of everyday business knowledge.
“The apprentices are provided with ‘four pillars of support’ including myself, a mentor, a buddy and their manager.”
Currently, SLC have 28 apprentices split between both Modern Apprenticeships and Graduate Apprenticeships. The programme provides the chance for employees to upskill and apply for an apprenticeship.
Wylie continued: “We have one internal upskiller completing their Master’s in cyber security with Glasgow Caledonian University. This employee was working in cyber security but had a degree unrelated to technology, so this gave her the opportunity to gain the qualification while maintaining a full-time job.”
SLC have apprentices covering a range of careers: three are studying an apprenticeship in data analytics with Sixth Sense; one is completing a Graduate Apprenticeship in accountancy and has been offered a Trainee Accountant role with SLC; eight internal upskillers are studying data science split between Robert Gordon University and Stirling University; four internal upskillers are doing business management, and seven are completing an apprenticeship in software development with Glasgow University.
Wylie said: “We currently have two senior managers in their second year of an IT management for business apprenticeship with Robert Gordon University.
“Both managers have worked in various roles and have teams to manage but they got to the point in their career that they did not have an IT specific degree, so this was the perfect opening. One of the managers has had such a positive experience which led him to recruit an apprentice.”
SLC believes that their apprenticeship programme is both the right thing for young people across Scotland and for other organisations to do. It gives the organisation a whole new perspective, new ideas and a new focus.
Their current software engineer apprentice has provided his team with new ways of thinking. Wylie revealed: “When he started the first year of his apprenticeship, he was 16 and came straight from school.
“Now in his third year, he has grown in confidence and skills. One example of this was his team discussed various ways to solve a problem and he came into the conversation, was able to offer another perspective, and helped to unlock the right solution quickly.”
When asked what advice Wylie would give to a young person looking to kick-start their career, she enthused: “The traditional route to university is great, however you only gain a theoretical understanding and perhaps three to six months’ work experience from an internship.
“With Graduate Apprenticeships, you gain the theoretical knowledge from university and also contextualise this into real-life work experience from day one, and at the end of your four year apprenticeship you have gained the same degree as a traditional route and four years’ experience.”
Wylie concluded: “I would encourage any young person to consider an apprenticeship in technology as this is the future and there is no way to hide from it especially from what we have experienced from Covid-19.”
To find out how a digital apprenticeships can help your business, visit apprenticeship.scot
This blog post was originally published on DIGIT.
