 Jessica
left Castle Hall School with 12 GCSEs at grades
A to C in 2007. She'd already decided that she
didn’t want to follow the more ‘traditional’
route of A levels and university.
“I’ve always been more practical
and I particularly enjoyed my Electronics lessons
at school”, says Jessica. “Earlier
in Year 11 I discussed all of this with Steve,
my Personal Adviser from Calderdale & Kirklees
Careers, and he was able to get in touch with
the JIVE Project in Bradford and help set up a
work experience placement with Kirklees Building
Services. This confirmed that training to be an
electrician was something I really wanted to do.
Now that I’ve started as an apprentice electrician
with Kirklees Building Services I’m really
enjoying it – everyone is very helpful and
supportive. I’m looking forward to qualifying
in four years’ time.”
Jessica is currently working with Kirklees Building
Services four days a week and is already beginning
to gain a lot of practical experience –
“more hands-on, like fixing security lighting,
wiring boilers and helping sort out electrical
problems that Kirklees tenants report to us”,
as Jessica puts it.
One day a week, Jessica also attends Bradford
College along with 17 other trainees in her group
working towards their NVQ qualifications. Jessica
is the only female electrician taken on by Kirklees
Building Services this year, although they are
keen to recruit women into all areas of construction
and currently employ five female construction
apprentices.
So how would Jessica encourage more females to
take up non-traditional jobs? “Well, I would
say that you need to think things through for
yourself and don’t simply follow the crowd
or the usual routes. Broaden your ideas out. It’s
helped that I enjoy Maths and Science, and I’ve
also appreciated the support I’ve had from
my teachers and parents. Being an electrician
is something I knew I wanted to do for myself,
but I’ve also had a lot of support from
Steve, my Personal Adviser.” Chris Waters,
Jessica’s supervisor at Kirklees Building
Services is equally impressed with her determination
to succeed. “Jessica has settled in here
extremely well and we have high hopes for her”,
he says.
Are you a young person working in a non-traditional
job? Would you like to encourage others to use
their skills and not just take up a career because
it is what other men or women do? Get in touch
with us via Shoutabout.
|
