International Youth Day: Early Careers at Avove
Showcasing Early Careers Opportunities at Avove
We are passionate about nurturing the careers of the next generation by offering a wide range of early careers opportunities. So, this International Youth Day, we’re taking the opportunity to showcase our early careers and hearing first-hand how our work experience opportunities have benefited real students.
Early careers opportunities at Avove
Our early careers strategy has been put together to not only help us with the skills and talent we need for the future, but also to ensure that we are providing opportunities for young people to get on the career ladder.
We asked our Early Careers Manager, Gill Roberts, to take us through our approach to Early Careers.
Young people face many challenges when it comes to finding their first career opportunities, which have been made worse by recent events, such as the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, unequal access to education and social media pressures, amongst others.
We have deliberately focused on a diversity of roles offered for young people here at Avove, including:
- Apprenticeships ranging from levels 2-6
- Degree apprenticeships
- Graduate roles
- Work experience placements
- T Level placements
This means that young people from all backgrounds, both academic and socioeconomic, are able to access work experience and apply for early careers roles with us.
Our early careers approach: small changes that make a big difference
Alongside our range of early careers opportunities, we have also made small tweaks to our approach that make a big difference and ensure our early careers offering is inclusive and benefit all young people, including:
- Apprentice applicants aren’t required to submit a CV; they can apply using a simple set of questions that we have devised, as we understand that not everyone has the support or educational opportunity to learn how to write a CV
- We have written and produced employability skills advice and guidance to help young people, including interview tips, CV and covering letter tips and a model CV and covering letter, which are all free to use
- When attending interviews, our early careers applicants are not required to wear a suit/business attire – not everyone can afford a suit, and it can mean those from a lower socio-economic background wouldn’t be able to attend.
- Our hiring managers are encouraged to focus on hiring the right person, rather than looking at experience and specific grades and qualifications with our early careers roles, as these are entry-level roles. Some roles naturally need some basic grades and qualifications, but we don’t only focus on that – we recruit for attitude, train for skills!
- We encourage first interviews to be carried out remotely, which means that cost and transport are not as much of a burden at the first stage.
As well as the roles we advertise and our early careers recruitment process, we also build our early careers programmes to make sure our young people are getting additional opportunities and skills in addition to learning the roles they have been hired for, for example:
- All apprentice and graduates have an Avove mentor
- We are working with Barclays to offer our apprentices LifeSkills sessions covering payslips/budgeting and the cost of living, homebuying, credit scores and scams.
- We are holding career spotlight sessions for our early careers colleagues in which many of our experienced Avove colleagues and Executive Leadership team will be talking about their career journeys, offering inspiration, advice and guidance to our young people
- Our early careers colleagues have the opportunity to train as STEM Ambassadors to encourage other young people into STEM careers
- We also have additional Learning & Development delivered internally covering communication, presentation and leadership skills, Insights, generational awareness and social media training, with more to be added
Lastly, we have taken the decision, particularly with our apprentice roles, to offer an apprentice salary that is above the UK average. Currently, the apprentice salary for first-year apprentices is only required to be £7.55 per hour! The cost-of-living crisis affects everyone, including young people who have bills and commitments, just as much as our older colleagues. Not all apprentices live at home with their parents; therefore, our starting salary for apprentices’ roles ranges from £11.00 to £11.44 per hour, and this will be regularly reviewed. We also offer apprentice driving lesson support up to £400, apprentice bonus payments on completion of each year of their apprenticeship and apprenticeship completion payments.
We are focused on bringing the most amazing early careers talent to Avove over the next few years. Still, we are also just as focused on doing it in the most socially responsible, equitable and diverse way we can – not simply to tick a random box, but because it is the right thing to do. We need to make sure that our future workforce has the same opportunities that a lot of us have already been afforded.
Work Experience Case Study – Jack Davies
To illustrate the impact of our Early Careers opportunities, we asked student, Jack Davies, who recently embarked on a work experience placement at Avove, to take us through his time with us and how it benefited him.
I’ve had a brilliant week with Avove, gaining an eye-opening insight into the water and utility industry, which was an industry I had never really considered before. From day one, I was made to feel welcome and part of the team.
A week in the life of an Avove work experience student
On Monday, I had a Health and Safety Induction with Ben Ofodile, where we explored Avove’s ethos and the importance of working together to keep everyone safe. I then visited the Prescot office with Andrew Caunce. While the site wasn’t active, I still found it insightful, as we went through RAMS, and how each party plays a role in managing them.
Tuesday was a highlight for me. I went on several site visits with Darren Johns, who really made me feel like part of the team. One site we visited involved a water tank on a farmer’s land, which opened my eyes to the customer sector of the company, realising the importance of communication with the local community.
We also discussed environmental issues, such as Himalayan Balsam, and explored ways to manage similar invasive species. I met Melanie Parr and Olivia Richardson, both of whom were incredibly helpful and expanded my understanding of how to get my name out there in the industry.
On Wednesday, I spent the morning with Rob Hughes and his design team, looking at CAD drawings of valves and different utilities. This experience was truly beneficial to me, as I gained insight into what a typical day as a Design specialist entails, which may be a career I explore in the future.
Everyone in the design team was very welcoming and eager to support someone passionate about entering the industry. This really resonated with me, as it showed me how much the company values my generation.
In the afternoon, I shadowed Faith Caunce from the customer team, who showed me an in-depth look into the behind-the-scenes work that goes into keeping customers informed, managing relationships, upholding reputation and ensuring that sites are kept clean, safe and compliant with PPE standards.
Overall, this experience has been incredibly insightful. I’ve built valuable connections, gained a better understanding of how the water industry operates, and discovered how many career paths it offers. Avove clearly values young talent and goes above and beyond to develop and support them. The people here are not only welcoming, but genuinely excited to see young people interested in the industry. I’d jump at the chance to do another placement in the future.
Explore Avove early careers programmes
If you’re looking to gain industry experience or find your first role, Avove is the perfect place to grow your potential. Our structured early careers programmes are designed to give you the best start in the industry, and you will benefit from a range of training and mentorship opportunities. Explore our early careers programmes or email [email protected] for more information.