We are a not-for-profit housing association with an in-house maintenance department which employs our own team of tradespeople – joiners, plumbers, gas engineers etc.
A year or so ago, we wanted to employ a couple of apprentice plumbers and joiners. The managers of the dept were clear about the type of candidate they wanted. They didnt want school leavers or people already doing trades NVQ’s. They wanted older people, who they felt might want a career change and would be more committed, and who hadnt picked up bad practices and they could train ‘their’ way. We got around this (badly) because our vehicle insurance only covers 25’s and over (they had to be able to drive our company vans) and so this was explained in our advert. However, we were still inundated with phone calls from teens, parents and colleges asking if under 25’s could apply.
We now want to employ one more apprentice but with on-coming age legislation, I was wondering if anyone had ideas for a better approach? Our last method didnt sit well with any of us but a previous advert without the over 25’s disclaimer saw us receive over 750 applications (the majority shortlistable) for only 2 posts!!!
All comments would be happily received.
Jayne Stutt
