National Apprenticeship Week 2022 - Meet the Apprentice

Today marks the start of National Apprenticeship Week 2022. We caught up with Network Engineer Apprentice Thomas Valois, currently working for HB Tech, an IT company based in Ampfield, Hampshire – and studying the Digital Technology Solutions course at Solent.

Thomas shares with us how his apprenticeship is going so far, how he manages his work/life balance and what his future plans are.

Carol Evans ‘Head of Amazing’ at HBTech, said of apprenticeships: ‘’At HBTech we believe that Apprenticeships are a brilliant way of bringing people into the sector. It allows an individual to learn new skills and gain a qualification alongside real-life experience of on-the-job training. It is a win-win for both parties. The individual gets practical hands-on experience whilst studying and earning a wage. The employer gets a well-trained, loyal employee who becomes even more valuable over time. We are advocates of apprenticeships and have had apprentices since 2017. We have found it is a really efficient way to grow our workforce and will continue to use this path in the future.

Thomas joined us to gain experience in the IT sector. When he first started he was given opportunity to look at all aspects of IT that HBTech support for it’s customers. This allows a wide breadth of choice for any areas of specialism that are of particular interest. Thomas’s curiosity was sparked with Microsoft 365 and cloud based technologies. HBTech support people to follow a path of interest as this normally leads to greater engagement for the individual. In fact, Thomas is now our ‘go to’ person for all things Microsoft!

All in all, apprenticeships work for all involved and we are avid supporters of the scheme’’.