Aimed at work ready young people aged 16-25, the programme offers candidates a glimpse into the electrical sector, providing them with both hands-on work experience and college training.

Speaking to Alison Paterson an Outcomes Executive for the Prince’s Trust about the programme, she said, “The ‘Get Into’ programmes have been incredibly successful, with three out of four people going on to education, employment or training.

‘For something like this we can have over 100 applicants which we whittle down through telephone and face-to-face interview. We then invite the candidates that we think would be best suited to the programme to come along to a selection day where in this instance we got them doing practical elements such as wiring a plug to see what their skill level is at. We also complete team building and communications exercises to make sure they are able to complete the full course and from there we select the best candidates.

‘It’s an intense few weeks where they learn a lot over a short period of time. The course helps build their confidence and allows them to see if this is a career path they want to follow without any risks and I’m delighted to see that all thirteen have successfully completed the course and are ready to move forward with their careers.”

Driving the programme for West College Scotland was Curriculum and Quality Leader for Building Services, Joe Mulholland said, “When we took on this project we knew we had a challenge on our hands. Not only did we have to source work placements for the students but we also had to find a way to condense the pre-apprenticeship course into a 6 week programme.  We really pushed the boat out and selected the best candidates and put them to work, encouraging them to push past their comfort zones and work to their full potential to produce excellent pieces of work. We put them through our process and I think we have turned out with students who have gained first class employability skills.”

The successful candidates were joined by friends, family, lecturers, and industry professionals including the companies that provided work experience and local MSP Gil Paterson for an afternoon of celebration on Wednesday 3 August.  The students were presented with certificates of achievement by Managing Director Newell McGuiness of Select who helped fund the project.

Speaking at the event about his experience was twenty-two year old Michael Scott from Knightswood , “Firstly I’d just like to thank everyone at the Prince’s Trust and the College for giving up their summer to put us through this.

‘Before I did this course I completed my HNC in Electrical Engineering but unfortunately through the college I was at they offered no kind of work experience whilst learning so I wasn’t able to find a job as all employers were looking for experience.

‘But thankfully due to this course I’ve managed to refresh my skills and learnt a few more things including in steal conjure bending, wiring systems and trunking.

‘I had a great time with my employer Etmec. There was a lot of variation and I ended up fixing steel trunking, the same as what I had learnt on the course.

‘After we came back from work experience we wanted to make sure everyone else was at the same point - finished their products to be able to show off their projects today and by working as a team we have been able to do that.

‘I found out today that I’ve been offered an apprenticeship with Etmec so I’m absolutely delighted.

I’m hoping after the three or four years training I will gain and job with the company and go on to have a successful career as an Electrician.”

Also speaking of her experience was the only female participant, twenty-three year old Catherine Garcia from East Kilbride, “Last year I came over from Canada. I didn’t have a plan but I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to get into Engineering but coming over from Canada fresh out of school I had no idea how to go about that.

So I signed up the job centre and Prince’s Trust got in contact with me through them. They told me about this course and invited me over to the trial day. I was excited, I was about to learn from trained professionals in a hands-on environment and it was really rewarding getting the instant feedback and learning a techniques that could only be learnt once out in field.

‘I’d like to thanks those at the Prince’s Trust and West College Scotland for supporting the opportunity.”