At Overton Automotive, we’re proud to support young people in education. Whether they’re keen to pursue a career in the automotive industry or aren’t quite sure what they want to do yet, we believe in giving people from all backgrounds a chance.
That’s why we’re delighted to shine a spotlight on our latest apprentice and work experience employees.
QA Scotland Modern Apprenticeships
QA has been Scotland’s leading provider for digital apprenticeships for over ten years now. At Overton Automotive, we’ve now supported and guided four members of staff through a qualification in partnership with QA Scotland.
Our latest employee, who we’re delighted to have supported through her apprenticeship, is 17-year-old Patrijia. She has been with us since August 2022 and, despite her QA course being a year long, she managed to complete this in just 10 months.
Patrijia is now an official employee at Overton Automotive as a sales advisor on our front counter. Her job is to serve members of the public and trade customers, which she does brilliantly. The QA course helped her greatly with her skills, particularly in customer service. Through her training she should have been paid an apprentice wage, however as a national living wage employer, we ensured she was paid above and beyond the legal wage for an apprentice.
The support from QA was extremely beneficial to Patrijia, as the apprentice students are still children when they start with us (just 16 years old). It became clear how important it is to support these young adults not only in the workplace, but also emotionally and in their personal lives too.
Supporting Work-Experience Students
At Overton Automotive, we’re also so proud to be supporting students in school through work experience opportunities on a long-term basis.
Thanks to Aberdeen Council, we’ve been given the opportunity to support students in their final 2 years at school. The council has recognised that not all children thrive in a school environment. So to keep them engaged and in education, they’ve created an opportunity for pupils to work two days a week all year round for their final two years at school.
This wonderful opportunity prevents children leaving school with little to no qualifications and prepares them for full time employment. It’s a great way to ensure the students are playing a positive part in society, instead of being absent from school.
Our latest work-experience employee, Liam, is a pleasure to have on board. Some of his duties include picking and locating parts, preparation of parts, data entry, stock control, and cleaning. He loves getting stuck in!
Liam has also been trained in health and safety in the workplace, safe systems of work, and fire procedures. We’re so pleased we are able to give him an insight into the working world and experience of employment while he’s still in education.
