CWU welcomes 120 Virgin Media apprenticeships
14th May 2012
Following Virgin Media's announcement of 120 new
apprenticeship places for 2012, recruitment has started in the
Berkshire town of Reading and is being praised by the CWU.
CWU assistant secretary Grace
Mitchell said: "We warmly welcome the creation of
these apprenticeships. It shows that Virgin Media is investing in
its workforce and focusing on crucial engineering skills for the
future."
The new 12 month access field apprentice will work towards
Virgin Media's nationally recognised NVQ in Communication
Technology. The qualification has been designed to help the
apprentices develop a mix of both technical and customer engagement
skills in a very short time frame, with a core focus on customer
experience.
"The apprentices will be trained on superfast fibre-optic
broadband and state-of-the-art TV on demand services, which
includes ultrafast 120Mb broadband and Virgin Media's TiVo
offering, so it looks like a really exciting programme," Grace
explained.
Apprentices will gain hands on experience of
installing and disconnecting services, diagnosing and fixing faults
as well as learning how to ensure the safety of Virgin Media's
fibre optic network. Once qualified, the apprentices will be
responsible for installing and maintaining Virgin Media's
superfast broadband, phone and digital TV service for customers in
Reading.
Peter Van-Den-Broeck, head of apprentice
programs from Virgin Media said: "Our field apprenticeship
scheme is going from strength to strength, with successful
applications more than doubling each year since 2008. We are
thrilled to be offering apprenticeships to switched-on youngsters
in Reading - it's a fantastic opportunity for us to invest in
the future of the business, while offering local youngsters a great
start to their career."
"What's really encouraging" Grace explains, "is the positive noises about further job creation and expansion of the apprenticeship scheme in the future. This is such a positive development for young people looking for skilled work in the cutting edge telecoms and broadband sector and shows there's a bright future for UK jobs in Virgin Media."
Do you work for Virgin Media? If so, why not join the CWU? Contact us on freephone 0800 731 7434, email joinunion@cwu.org or click >here< to download the application form.
