Introducing one of our top apprentices Jone Da Cruz who is going to share his experiences throughout his apprenticeship journey with you in a regular blog here.
Over to you Jone…
Hello there! My name is Jone Da Cruz. I’m 23 years old and have just finished my Plumbing apprenticeship, NVQ level 2.
Now that I am a newly qualified Plumber, I have a year-long contract with a plumbing company, a huge pay rise, and I can tell you there is much more to learn, and more money to make! The apprenticeship was vital for my career, and I would like you to also become qualified and enjoy this journey.
Before I started my apprenticeship I was working with a Gas engineer doing private jobs. At the time, I didn’t know much of what I was doing and I was advised to start an apprenticeship. That’s when I found K10 by searching online. They fully supported me – they paid for my CSCS card, and found me a local Job in Woodberry Downs on one of the Berkeley Homes sites as a Plumber for Box and Charnock. In addition they gave me £200 to spend on any tools that I needed.
Fast forward two years and I’ve been taken on as a fully-qualified plumber by the same contractor I did my apprenticeship with! They’ve offered me a year-long contract with a stable income, which is important for an ambitious young person like myself. Also, I was interviewed by the Metro Newspaper who presented me with the Apprentice of the Year award. This has been a great year.
For my job, I’ve been moved to another site 10 minutes away from my house. After completing my apprenticeship qualification, I’ve got the required knowledge in plumbing, but also the confidence to work on a building site, which as many apprentices know can be a tough environment. Through the apprenticeship experience, dealing with problems and finding solutions has become a day-to-day life style for me.
Going forward, I have big plans in the construction industry: I see myself running my own company, which allow me to follow my dream to complete a Novel that I am working on.
This is your future and your career. If there’s anything you need; if there’s any help or advice you need, don’t be shy – share your thoughts with me. It will only take few seconds of your time, and I’m here to help.
I know the hard parts of being an apprentice are that at times you feel like no-one truly understands you or what you are going through. Sometimes the work can be hard, too. It’s important that we apprentices voice these concerns, which is what we’ve set this Blog up for. It’s all about us. So please do e-mail me with your experiences, thoughts, questions, whatever. It can be a sentence, a paragraph or a page. Let me know!
The truth is that there are things I wished someone told me when I began my apprenticeship… Now with the on-site experience I’ve gained, I want to share the ins and outs of a construction apprenticeship with everyone. Having qualified, I have experience of both sides of an apprenticeship, and over the next few weeks, I will be blogging and giving tips and ideas. Hopefully, these will help you on your path to become a fully qualified a trades-person; even to run your own company one day.
Please do send me your questions, thoughts, feedback, your own experiences to hello@k-10.co.uk
