Creating skilled engineers
In the post war years up until the mid 1980’s almost every large and medium company (together with the more enlightened smaller businesses) offered well structured apprenticeship schemes based on internal training and college based nationally recognised qualifications.
These schemes served everybody well, young people learned a trade with a real job and good pay at the end and had a good qualification which could lead to other things later if they wished. Companies had a plentiful supply of highly skilled and qualified craftsmen at hand.
The decline of REAL apprenticeships
However, starting from the early 1980’s many traditional training schemes came to an end. Economic recession and a change in government policies towards training in general led to a gradual fall off of companies offering the type of detailed training schemes leading to the high skills needed in engineering. New shorter, less expensive models were introduced and over time the number of qualified and skilled tradesmen diminished, in some fields including electrical controls and instrumentation this has led to a severe shortage of available engineers.
Tackling the shortage – the Denca way
Denca Controls soon recognised the need to provide a properly structured training scheme for school leavers and after securing the Investors in People standard, we employed our very first apprentice in 1999.
Denca provides thorough and demanding four year training schemes combining both technical and practical workplace skills learned in-house with college attendance leading to gaining nationally recognised qualifications such as HNC or HND.
Developing talent
As their ability and experience grows, we involve apprentices increasingly in more hands-on work tasks. We appreciate how important it is for us to maintain the highest standards of work for our customers so it is always a significant moment when an apprentice gives us the confidence to involve them in customer projects for the first time.
Since our very first starter back in 1999 we have employed a further 12 apprentices up to the end of 2014. It is always our hope that, once qualified, apprentices will be happy to stay with Denca, and most already have chosen to.
Denca Controls is a happy ship with good work lifestyle mix.
Graduate Training
The story does not end there. Denca has since 2009 offered a well structured Graduate Training Scheme open to graduates with appropriate engineering or science related degrees. Again the training courses run over three years and we currently have four graduates in our scheme.
So far all graduates have been hired to develop into software engineers. However, we are now looking to expand the scope to include design and engineering training.
Opportunity now!
Denca are currently on the lookout for a suitably qualified and interested graduate to start with us soon. Do you know of a graduate with a suitable degree?
Please refer them to our VACANCIES page for more details and to apply.