When Philip left school, he wanted to work in car design. He started a university course but came to realise that it wasn’t going to get him his dream job.
He said: “There are three car design courses in this country which turn out 30 students a year, but there are only five car design jobs available in the world each year. I realised there was a very slim chance of me getting a job in car design so I decided to look at other options within the automotive industry.”
Philip decided to leave his university course and got a job in a body shop as a painter because he already had an understanding of paint from his GNVQ in Art and Design. His employers signed him up to do his apprenticeship with Skills Solutions and he achieved his diploma and NVQ Level 3.
“I’ve experienced college, university and an Apprenticeship. Personally, I believe the Apprenticeship was far above the others in terms of relevance and quality of training. The university course was being taught by people who had very little, if any, industry experience.
“The people teaching the NVQ had all worked in body shops so they had firsthand experience of the job. The Apprenticeship was a breath of fresh air.”
After completing his Apprenticeship, Philip decided he would need to move jobs in order to progress. He had the choice of going into paint demonstration or teaching. His assessor recommended he went into teaching and Philip is now teaching apprentices at the Greater Manchester SkillCentre in Trafford Park.
“I can relate to the students better because I’m closer to their age. If their attention wanders, I’m able to draw them back to the work. I get a real buzz from teaching them, seeing them achieve some outstanding results and preparing them for the world of work.”
