HETA open days pave the way to careers in engineering

HETA staff members Joanne Rowland (centre), Lucy Jessop and Mike Ahern with some of the Foxhills apprentices, including Lauran Codlin, who joined local companies during the summer after completing their first year.

YOUNG people seeking a career in engineering will get their chance to sign up with a leading training provider when applications open next month for programmes beginning in September 2018.

Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA) is offering interested youngsters the chance to gain an insight into the vast amount of job roles available in this fast-growing industry with a series of open nights which have already developed a track record of inspiring the engineers of the future.

The latest crop of young people to secure jobs in industry after completing a first year at HETA includes Laura Codlin, who left the company’s centre at Foxhills, Scunthorpe, during the summer to join Volteck Ltd of Gainsborough.

Laura (pictured left) said: “When I was at school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I was good at history and geography and thought about teaching but I didn’t fancy going through university.

“My dad works at the steelworks and read about HETA in the paper. My careers advisers told me about the HETA open days so I went to one and then tried a taster day for electrical engineering. We wired up a light switch and I found it fun!

“The training has been good. I’ve enjoyed it and learned more than I expected to. It is a male-dominated industry but it’s a good opportunity.”

HETA has welcomed 220 new recruits to its centres at Hull, Foxhills and Stallingborough for the current academic year and may increase its intake next year, with a new £4 million centre due to open in Hull in the summer as part of an expansion programme.

Some of the new apprentices will be present at the open days and will be able to give first-hand accounts of their experience at HETA.

Lucy Jessop, HETA’s Schools Engagement Administrator, said: “Applications for the September 2018 intake open on Monday 2 October and the open days will give people a great opportunity to find out what HETA is all about.

“It’s a chance for potential applicants to see the workshops, meet the instructors and some apprentices and find out more about opportunities in engineering in various sectors such as food, energy and manufacturing.

“In the years that we have been running the open evenings we’ve welcomed young people from schools and colleges across the Humber region and further afield, and we’ve also had some people who started off pursuing other careers and had a change of heart.

“We have a very high success rate with nine out of 10 learners going straight into employment and over half progressing to higher level learning.”

Open evenings will take place every month in Hull from Wednesday 27 September, in Scunthorpe from Monday 9 October and in Stallingborough from Thursday 19 October.

Taster sessions will be held with two sessions a day in Hull from Thursday 2 November, in Scunthorpe from Tuesday 24 October and in Stallingborough from Wednesday 25 October.

To book for Hull call 01482 826635, email hulladmin@heta.co.uk or visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heta-hull-open-events-tickets-37645334208

For Scunthorpe call 03303 331501, email scunthorpeadmin@heta.co.uk or visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heta-scunthorpe-open-events-tickets-37648642102

For Stallingborough call 01469 552880, email grimsbyadmin@heta.co.uk or visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heta-grimsby-open-events-tickets-37648436487