A chat with Sean Brown
Sean initially undertook work experience with us back in 2017, after being nominated by a member of the S&SHIS Senior Management team. Sean completed two blocks of work experience, one in November 2017 for five consecutive Wednesdays, with the 1st and 2nd Line teams then another five Wednesdays in January 2018. This time focusing on the 1st Line team, acquiring more ‘in depth’ skills and knowledge. Towards the end of this work experience he was pretty much working autonomously alongside regular members of staff.
During Sean’s final week with the 1st Line team, Ty Henry, who at that time was a 1st Line Supervisor said:-
With a bit of training I’m sure Sean would make a great 1st Line Technician to start his career in IT. You don’t need masses of computer skills and knowledge to become a 1st Line Technician, you need to have excellent customer service, attitude, personality and that “can do” fire in the belly. Sean displayed all of this. There have been many positive comments from the team regarding Sean since then and me and the team look forward to working with Sean again.
In March 2018 apprentice interviews took place and Sean was one of the successful candidates. He was still only 17 years old at this point, the youngest apprentice we have recruited so far. As he was still attending school, we postponed his start date to July 2018.
Sean settled in well and worked so hard that he was appointed to a fixed term contract a few months later in October 2018. All of Sean’s work experience and apprenticeship with us gave him the necessary skills to secure him a permanent role as a 1st Line Technician in June 2019.
Read Sean’s experiences of his apprenticeship and his work experience.
What did you do/learn during your work experience/apprenticeship?
My initial work experience placement was both in the 1st Line Service Desk and the 2nd Line Trentham teams. In my placement I shadowed members of both teams looking at what they did in their day to day job. On the Service Desk I took calls while supervised and unsupervised and also worked on the remote queue, calling out to customers in order to try to resolve their issues. With the 2nd Line team, I went out to site with the Technicians and worked on site to help users resolve their issues. I also worked with the hardware and condemning assets which were no longer in use.
What made you decide on an apprenticeship with S&SHIS?
I chose S&SHIS as I already had contacts there and they told me that it would be a good place to look for a career in IT.
In what ways has your apprenticeship with S&SHIS benefitted you?
My time at S&SHIS benefitted my studies as it made it clear that I wanted to pursue a career in IT. It also helped me see how studies in IT could be applied to a real career, which has since led me to my current position as a permanent 1st Line Technician.
Would you recommend an apprenticeship with S&SHIS?
I would recommend work experience and an apprenticeship in S&SHIS to anyone who is thinking about a career in IT as it allows them to gain some experience in the actual field.