Experience matters
A business can’t operate without skilled, qualified employees. A surprisingly large number of businesses are feeling limited by a shortage of workers with digital skills.
Low supply
According to TechCity’s third annual Tech Nation report released earlier this year, over half of digital tech businesses in the U.K. reported that the biggest challenge to their growth is a lack of “talent supply.”
In America, a 2015 Econsultancy study showed that 40 percent of companies named “finding staff with suitable digital skills” as one of “the most significant challenges or barriers to digital progress” for their business. Another study found that digital companies had an average of 3.5 jobs unfilled.
What to do when the talent you need is not forthcoming?
Taking on an apprentice and training him or her in the required skills is an excellent way to fill in those job vacancies. Apprenticeships are fairly common in Europe, and a required rite of passage for many skilled artisans.
So why not a digital apprenticeship?
At least one agency in South Texas is “bridging the talent gap.”
Tech apprenticeship solution
Digital Creative Institute (DCI) helps craft year-long apprenticeships that benefit both new workers and businesses looking for talent. Apprentices work a full-time job, learning company-specific skills along the way, and also continue their training and education after work through classroom training and individual instruction from experienced coaches and mentors.
Apprenticeships benefit from a curriculum of the most up-to-date information and skills available.
“We focus on giving recent college graduates the necessary skills to thrive in the workforce and providing local businesses in San Antonio and Austin with highly qualified and productive talent,” says DCI.
Experience plus compensation
Apprenticeships like these seem like a desirable alternative to internships. Internships, often unpaid, are not a realistic option for most workers, who may be motivated to continue their education and training, but who can’t afford to work for free in the meantime.
Apprenticeships also give employers a chance to raise a new worker in the skills and company culture of your particular business.
Rather than hoping and praying for the perfect candidate to appear, you can help mentor a motivated young worker specifically to fit your company’s needs.
#Apprenticeship
