App helps young people secure apprenticeships

A Facebook app helping young people to land an apprenticeship has been made available on the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website.

The platform was developed by four apprentices in Nottingham as part of a nationwide competition to produce a tool enabling the younger generation to improve their interview skills and job applications.

According to Jaine Bolton, director at the NAS, the judges were impressed by the standard of all submissions in the contest, with all participants putting in a lot of thought and hard work into proceedings.

She added the winning Facebook app has been created by "young people who have been in the same position as those they have created it for. It looks great, is easy to use and will hopefully help young job seekers get an apprenticeship".

As well as the new platform, the NAS has launched a number of services to young people over the exam period, such as an online apprenticeship support pack that includes advice on starting vocational training for the first time and films about applying for an apprenticeship.

Until August 29th, school leavers can also take advantage of a service being rolled out by the NAS alongside the National Careers Service on Twitter and Facebook, which gives students the opportunity to ask questions about their results and career options.

Joe Billington, director of the National Careers Service, said the pupils finding out how they did in their exams this week should take pride in what they have achieved.

He continued: "The National Careers Service is here to support everyone that is getting their results this month and encourage them to look at their options and decide what to do next."

This comes after a recent survey conducted by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills revealed 83 per cent of young people in apprenticeships believe the training they have received is boosting their employment prospects, plus 81 per cent of employers also recommended taking on apprentices.