1 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies SUPPORTING NOTES FOR PRESENTATION

2 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 1 National Apprenticeship Service This presentation has been designed for teachers and careers advisers to guide pupils on how to use Apprenticeship vacancies, the online system provided by apprenticeships.org.uk By the end of this tutorial pupils should: Have a clear understanding of the system and how it works (Apprenticeship vacancies) Have created an account, or know how to create a personal account Be ready to start searching and applying for Apprenticeship jobs

3 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 2 National Apprenticeship Service The apprenticeships.org.uk website gives individuals the opportunity to search and apply for Apprenticeship vacancies. At any one time there are thousands of jobs available in a variety of industry sectors across England. You can apply for as many as you like. Apprenticeships are increasingly recognised as the gold standard for work- based learning. There are more than 250 different types of Apprenticeships suitable for over 1,200 job roles, in a range of industry sectors, from engineering to financial advice, veterinary nursing to accountancy.

4 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 3 National Apprenticeship Service You can search and apply for opportunities using Apprenticeship vacancies our on line recruitment site for Apprenticeships. It only takes a few minutes to register and activate your account. There are thousands of opportunities available. You can search for vacancies, save favourite searches and set up alerts to let you know when vacancies you might be interested in become available. You will have a ‘home page’ where you can check how your applications are progressing. It’s important to include a contact phone number and to update this in your profile if it changes. The address you use to register should be a sensible one as employers will see this. Help is available with using Apprenticeship vacancies: There is online guidance, FAQs and a dedicated helpdesk to provide support with any technical issues.

5 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 3 (continued) National Apprenticeship Service 1. Go to apprenticeships.org.uk Click the ‘Search for vacancies’ link in the Apprenticeship vacancies box on the home page. You can start by registering your details. 2. Register your details Click the ‘Register now’ link in the New User? box and fill in your details. It’s free to register and once you have set up your account you can receive alerts to tell you about new vacancies that may interest you. 3. Account Activation Before you can get started using Apprenticeship vacancies, you must activate your account. When you register for the first time, you’ll receive a confirmation through your registered address. You must activate your account by clicking on the link in the confirmation . Login to your account by using the username and password you used to set up your account.

6 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 3 (continued) National Apprenticeship Service 4. Create your Home Page ‘My Home page’ is your personal secure space. You can use it to: Search for Apprenticeship vacancies and save your results Log your areas of interest, e.g. business administration Manage your applications Set up or text alerts to inform you when a vacancy is posted that matches your favourite search criteria 5. My Profile Always check that your profile is up to date – this information is used to contact you during the recruitment process. Always include a contact phone number, add your mobile and your home number if possible so that the Learning Providers or Employers can get in touch with you to confirm interviews or clarify information.

7 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 3 (continued) National Apprenticeship Service 6. Search for vacancies You can search for your ideal job in a number of different ways including using keywords, occupation type, job role or postcode to suit your criteria. Your search can also be refined by selecting the date the vacancy was posted, indicating the weekly wage or the level of Apprenticeship you are looking for such as an Advanced Apprenticeship. 7. Browse your results Click on any of the vacancies listed from your search results for more information. Each vacancy listing gives detailed information about the job, including the employer, training, pay and the qualifications you will be working towards. You can save your search results, so they are easy to access at any time, or start a new search.

8 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 3 (continued) National Apprenticeship Service 8. Alerts You can set your alerts to choose how you would like to be notified about new vacancies. Go to ‘My Alerts’ and tick the boxes to receive ‘ Alerts’ and ‘Text Alerts’ and press Save. There is no cost to you for receiving alerts. You will be sent an ‘activation’ word by text, enter this word into the ‘Text Alerts’ section and save. 9. Manage your future Once you’ve found the job you want, applying is easy. The application form is simple, secure and reusable, so you can respond to vacancies and save your application forms. Status of your applications can be viewed and manage online. 10. Apply for several vacancies You can have up to ten live vacancies at any one time. If you are successful with any of your applications, and you accept the Apprenticeship offer, remember to withdraw your remaining live applications. This will save the learning providers and employers time as these are no longer necessary.

9 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 4 National Apprenticeship Service TIPS Use the tips provided below to help you make the most of your opportunity of applying for, and securing an Apprenticeship. Appropriate address Make sure the address you use is a professional one. Your address will be seen by potential employers and inappropriate addresses may not create the best first impression. Username and password Make sure your username is relevant and that your password is something that you can remember. Your password must be between 8 and 20 characters long and include a combination of letters, numbers and special characters such as % or {. If you forget your username or password you can request the information by clicking on the ‘forgotten’ prompt on the login page.

10 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 Lazy mistakes The information you enter when you register will automatically appear on each job application form. So any errors or lazy shorthand typing will be shown too! For example, remember to use capital letters for your name. Spam folder The activation will usually appear in your inbox but it may be diverted to your spam folder – so you should check this too. Multiple accounts Try to avoid creating multiple accounts – remembering lots of usernames and passwords can lead to confusion. National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 4 (continued)

11 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 Your voic message Make sure your phone has an appropriate voic recorded. An inappropriate message is going to put off your potential employer! Correct ? Make sure your correct address and mobile number are up to date in ‘My Profile’. Qualifications If you want to update your predicted qualifications with your actual grades, it is easier to contact the provider directly. National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 4 (continued)

12 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 5 To start searching, just go to apprenticeships.org.uk and click on Search for Vacancies. You can type in a key word related to the kind of job role you’re looking for, and can select your area from a drop down list. You can also search by Occupation type or by Learning Provider and can enter your postcode so that you just see vacancies within a specified distance of your home. Once you click on Search you will be shown a list of vacancies which meet your search criteria…. National Apprenticeship Service

13 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 6 The search results page shows you the job title, location, job role and closing date and gives a short summary of what the job involves. You can sort by closing date, location or job role. To see the full job description, just click on the red link. If you have already registered on Apprenticeship vacancies and activated your account, you will need to enter your user name and password. If you haven’t registered you will be able to register at this point so that you can see the full details for each role. National Apprenticeship Service

14 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 7 For each vacancy you will be able to see a full description of what the job involves, who the employer is, and where you would be based. The vacancy shows the hours you would be working and what your weekly wage would be and what kind or qualities the employer is looking for. You will also see details of which learning provider will be doing the training for your apprenticeship. For most vacancies you will use your reusable application form to apply, or for some large companies you may be asked to apply directly to them, and will be directed to their website. The vacancy will always tell you what you need to do to apply. When you click on Apply you will be given a chance to update your Profile details (this is the information you entered when you registered and includes things like your contact details. You will then be taken to your Application Form. National Apprenticeship Service

15 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 8 If you have already set up an Application Form you will just need to check you are happy with the details and make any changes before submitting this. If you haven’t yet set up an application form you can set this up now, and will be able to reuse this for future applications. The information from your Profile is automatically pulled through to your application form. You just need to add details about your school and any qualifications or work experience you have. You may be asked up to two specific questions about the role you are applying for. There is a spell checker in each section of the form. Don’t forget to read through your completed form carefully, or ask someone else to, before you submit it. National Apprenticeship Service

16 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 Once you have started applying for an Apprenticeship, your form will appear in the Manage Applications section of the site. The ‘Application Ladder’ shows any applications you are still working on in the blue ‘Unsent Applications’ section. Once you have submitted a form you will see that it moves to the red ‘Sent applications’ box. You will then be able to see your application move to ‘in progress’ while the learning provider is processing your application. You may be contacted by the learning provider and asked to attend and interview or assessment. You will be notified in the Application ladder of the outcome of your application. If you aren’t successful this time, you will receive a note telling you the reason for this. For more detailed feedback you can contact the learning provider who’s contact details are included in the vacancy description. National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 9

17 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 Whenever you search for a vacancy you will see a ‘Save Search’ button at the bottom of the results page. If you click on this, your search will then appear in ‘My Saved Searches’ and you can re run the search at one click of button. In ‘My Saved Searches’ you can tick one search to be your favourite search. You can set up text or alerts for this search by going to ‘My Alerts’ and ticking to say which alerts you would like to receive. National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 10

18 | Presentation title – 00/00/2012 Checklist for applying 1.Be thorough – read the advert carefully before applying 2.Before you apply, be realistic – can you travel to the job if its not local? Do you have the required skills or experience? 3.Qualifications – make sure you list all of your qualifications, including your predicted grades if you are awaiting results 4.Work experience – make sure you list any work experience whether this has been paid or voluntary work 5.Be formal – always remember your application is part of the formal recruitment process. It will be viewed by your potential employer National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 11

19 | Presentation title – 00/00/ Stand out from the crowd – when asked to answer additional questions make sure you explain your response and give an example if you can – don’t copy the examples given 7. Spell check – always read through and check your application before sending. There are spell checkers available on the site, so don’t forget to use them 8. Make sure it has been sent – check that your application has been sent and appears in the ‘sent applications’ section of your manage applications ladder National Apprenticeship Service How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies Slide 11 (continued)