A global company making agrochemicals is on the look-out for new apprentices.
Nufarm has teamed up with Kirklees College to launch its recruitment drive in the run-up to National Apprenticeship Week, which runs from Monday, March 5, to Friday, March 9.
Nufarm, which has more than 3,500 employees worldwide, is looking to take on at least five apprentices in control and instrumentation engineering, electrical engineering and process manufacturing.
The roles will be based at the company’s UK base in Wyke with training at Kirklees College’s specialist engineering and process manufacturing facilities at Turnbridge in Huddersfield.
The college trains about 2,000 apprentices over 30 occupational areas with apprentices employed at more than 1,000 companies across Kirklees and beyond.
Nufarm HR director Mark Davies said: “We have a mature workforce so needed a succession plan to bring in the younger generation through apprenticeships. Applicants need to have good grades in maths, English and science, but it is also about attitude and behaviours. We want young people with an enthusiasm to contribute to the company. Skills we can train, but attitude is inherent.
“We have many staff who started as apprentices who have gone on to do degrees or they’re in management positions. “If people have the talent and potential, we absolutely develop them – that’s key to what we do.”
Previous successes include Mark McKnight, who began as an apprentice with Nufarm and was one of the first cohort of process manufacturing apprentices at the college – and is now the firm’s youngest first line manager at the age of 23.
He said: “I never really got interested in anything that much that I wanted to go to uni to pursue it. There was always a taboo about apprenticeships around school – a lot of people didn’t want to go do them and people think it’s just a last resort. But the more I looked into it, you get a path into a good career, you’re getting paid while you do it and there’s always further education involved.”
Kirklees College chemistry tutor Charlotte Catmull said: “With apprenticeships, the students gain skills that can’t be taught in college. They come to college with experience of the hands-on techniques that are part of the course and develop the theory within the lessons during their day release from their workplace.
“The students are motivated to learn as it means they can develop faster within their role at work and this sometimes means bonuses and pay rises. We find the students on apprenticeships often develop faster than our full-time learners because they get to use the theory they learn with us in the workplace in a practical setting.”
To find out more about the vacancies visit www.kirkleescollege.ac.uk/apprenticeships , call 01484 437070 or email info@kirkleescollege.ac.uk
Kirklees College has open days from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday. March 17, at the Dewsbury Centres and from 5.30pm to 8pm on Tuesday, March 20, at the Huddersfield Centre at Chapel Hill.
