Member Article

Businesses need to do more to help disadvantaged people get into their dream career

Apprenticeships help people from disadvantaged backgrounds break into their career of choice without the upfront costs, but businesses need to be offering more apprenticeships to improve social mobility, says Babington CEO, Carole Carson.

With social mobility coldspots across the UK preventing people from disadvantaged backgrounds having access to the same opportunities as their peers, apprenticeships play a vital part in removing these barriers and helping individuals find sustainable employment. Businesses need to consider how they can play their part in promoting better social mobility through offering traineeships and apprenticeships.

Getting access to careers that require specific qualifications can prove difficult for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. “Traineeships and apprenticeships provide an alternative route to traditional academic education: a young person can become a qualified accountant without going to university or - funding their own training. However, we need more businesses to open up to the idea of using an apprenticeship to access new talent,” says Carole Carson.

By progressing through the accounting apprenticeships, a school leaver can become a qualified accountant within a few years. Not only will they hold relevant qualifications, they will have gained valuable work experience compared to a university graduate, and be able to contribute to the bottom line of a business.

Selina Davey: An apprenticeship success story

Selina Davey wanted to return to full time work at the age of 28 after being a stay at home parent for several years. With a lack of relevant experience and specific qualifications, Selina found it difficult to get an interview.

After attending a job fayre where she found out about traineeships from Babington, Selina enrolled on a 12 week unpaid programme with SJD Accountancy.

With support from Babington on workplace skills and an employer keen to utilise new talent through recruiting from traineeships and apprenticeships, Selina was offered an Accounting Level 2 apprenticeship. Completing her apprenticeship through a mixture of classroom and workbased learning, Selina gained top grades and went on to be offered a permanent job with SJD as an Accounts Support Coordinator. She is now progressing her accounting career with a Level 3 Accounting Apprenticeship.

“Selina’s story is just one of our many successes showing that with the right support and the right employer, anyone can move up the career ladder in industries without needing to have the money upfront to pay for training,” comments Carole Carson. “What is important is that businesses can help more people like Selina by considering apprenticeships over traditional recruitment strategies. This way, everyone involved benefits from the apprenticeship.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dawn Spendlove .