If you have never hired an apprentice, you may find it overwhelming to get started as there are a lot of rules and regulations to follow. Before the recruitment process, your first move is to sign up for an apprenticeship service account. You will receive funding in this account to remunerate the apprentices you are going to hire. Your next move is to look for an apprenticeship training provider. After these two primary steps, you can go ahead and hire an apprentice by following the steps described below.
Based on your business needs, you should look for an apprentice with the required skills. Make a list of the skills you need in your apprentice to grow your business. You may also consider the skills your business will need down the road.
Generally, apprentices are cost-effective for all types of businesses. The government will support you financially for having apprentices. However, you must make sure the cost of hiring one is realistic.
According to the law, the national minimum wage rate for apprentices is £4.30. This rate is subject to change as it is reviewed annually in April. You may also use online cost calculators to get an estimate of how much it will cost you to hire an apprentice.
Today, you cannot depend on word-of-mouth alone. Make sure that you follow the guidelines when advertising your apprenticeship vacancy.
Apart from this, you can check out apprenticeship websites to advertise your vacancy. Your apprenticeship training provider can help you cover all of the major points in your vacancy advertisement. Another way is to use the apprenticeship vacancy platform of GOV for posting your ad.
If you’re looking for further help to create the advert, you can find plenty of helpful information on the apprenticeship website. These websites collect applications and present the skills and experience of the candidates. Therefore, the review process is quite simple. Given below is the checklist that your desired apprentice should meet.
If you have received hundreds of applications, you can go through the applications with the help of your apprenticeship training provider. They can help you set criteria to process the applications. But make sure that you look through all of the applications rather than scan them.
Ideally, you should get a helping hand to make a shortlist of potential candidates. Finally, you must make sure that the evaluation process is fair and consistent. There should be no discrimination of any sort.
After you have made a shortlist, you should be ready to interview the shortlisted candidates. During interviews, you should ask about their employment history and essential references. This approach will help you perform a background check.
The invitation for an interview should contain essential information, such as the venue, time, required documents, interview process, and any other special requirements. This step is essential if you want to make sure that the entire process is fair and consistent.
If you prepare well for the interview, you will be able to hire the best candidates. So, you must create a plan for the interview process. Your interview may include questions and answers or tasks and activities.
If you want to get a deeper insight into the abilities of the candidate, you must have a solid plan for the entire process and follow the same plan for all of the applicants.
Ideally, at least two people should interview the candidates. This approach will help make the process smoother and avoid any doubts.
When it is time for the interview, don’t forget to create a great first impression. The candidates will start judging you the moment you enter the assessment center. Therefore, make sure that your approach is friendly and professional throughout the process.
Choosing from the candidates is the most exciting part. Based on the information you collected throughout the process of the interview, you will be able to go with the most suitable candidates. Don’t forget to consult your training provider as their involvement is essential.
Finally, you may want to inform the successful candidates. We suggest that you make a call to each successful candidate and describe the details of the role they are going to play. Apart from this, you can discuss the essential details with the training provider.
Make sure you have an apprenticeship agreement with the apprentice. This agreement protects you and the apprentices.
You can get a maximum sum of £4,000 for having an apprentice. You will receive an amount of £3,000 on top of £1,000 for the apprentice between the age of 16 and 18 years old. In this case, the age of these apprentices doesn’t matter at all.
If you want to hire an apprentice for the first time, we suggest that you follow these 10 steps to go through the process and hire the best candidates.
Alternatively, get in touch with us! We can connect you with suitable candidates and help you with the paperwork.