EMPLOYERS
All Apprentices will need to be employed, but you may not need to have an employer before starting training.
While the best choice is for you to be employed soon after you leave school, there is the option for starting off at college and finding an employer at any time during the first year of training.
As soon as On Site Bristol makes an offer of an Apprenticeship, after testing and interview, we will start looking to match you with a suitable employer. Each year some employers let On Site Bristol know of apprentice vacancies available for school leavers, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find each individual apprentice an employer by the time they end their first year of training.
That is why we expect young people to try to find their own employer – if both of us are looking out for the right employer, there will be more chance of success.
Most employers offering employment to Plumbing apprentices in the last few years have been small companies, often with fewer than ten employees. There have also been larger companies and major house-builders, together with local authorities and housing associations (such as Bristol City Council and Merlin Housing Society) that have offered employment to apprentices.
Some plumbing companies do not employ plumbers working on gas appliances and heating. If you are employed by one of these companies you will only do a two-year Apprenticeship. To progress onto the Advanced Apprenticeship, you will need to be employed by a company that includes gas work, so that you can learn and practice the full range of skills needed for the NVQ level three.
A good place to start looking for employers, as well as yellow pages, is the Bristol First Directory, published by Bristol City Council. This has details of hundreds of construction companies based in Bristol, and allows you to search for specific trades. There should be a copy in your local library, or you can access it online at Bristol First
There are plenty of websites with helpful advice on finding an employer; here are a few you could try:
