Jed McNeish arrived at TDR in February 2019. Throughout Jed’s time at TDR, he suffered some hurdles and challenges in trying to find employment. Jed, unfortunately, had a few setbacks when it came to interviews and this took a toll on his confidence. This meant by September 2019 Jed was still unemployed.
Jed then took his own initiative to join TDRs EAAP Programme. This programme is for 16–18-year-olds with no previous Engineering Qualifications and allows students to gain a Level 2 diploma in Engineering and ultimately employment, where students gain their Level 3 in Engineering. Over the course of 32 weeks, students cover the following units: Turning, Milling, Welding, Electrical, Bench Fitting & Mechanical. Upon completion of this EAAP course, Jed secured employment with Northumbrian Water.
When Jed was asked if he thought the EAAP helped him to secure his apprenticeship with Northumbrian Water he said:
‘The EAAP helped me massively in developing a skill set and an understanding of how the workplace would be. It gave me experience in each department of engineering, helping me determine what I wanted to do. Having this experience opened up so many more opportunities for me. The programme does require a lot of commitment but is definitely worth it in the long run as it helps you stand out to employers. TDR helped me in every way possible and because of this I have ended up with an apprenticeship that I love. The EAAP is definitely worth doing and I would recommend this to anyone wanting to pursue a career in engineering.”
Colin Davison, Jed’s Employer at Northumbrian Water, was asked about how he found the recruitment process with TDR Training he said:
“Employing apprentices in the organisation is important in that we attract the right kind of people and ensure they have the relevant skills and abilities for the business’s current and future needs. The process recruiting Jed through TDR was certainly a quicker and cost-effective process than going out to advert. The fact Jed had the first year initial “off the job training” at TDR made the selection a lot simpler and this is something we’ll look to continue in the future for any other apprentices.”
We also asked Jed how he thought the skill set he acquired at TDR has been applied to the workplace at Northumbrian Water and Jed said:
“TDR has taught me the foundations to the different aspects of engineering along with the importance of health and safety in the workplace. This has helped me progress quicker within my apprenticeship, developing my skillset and knowledge further. The practical skills which I picked up at TDR were put to use straight away, giving me the confidence to carry out specific tasks by myself.”
When Colin was asked how Jed was getting on, he said:
“Jed is progressing very well in the workplace and he’s a really likeable young man amongst his peers. He’s demonstrating to use the skills learnt at TDR into the workplace with great effect and he’s now doing certain tasks safely on his own which is pleasing to see. To support Jed in his development and to hopefully help him reach his full potential I’ve assigned him a mentor which is working really well.”
Jed managed to overcome hurdles throughout his journey for an apprenticeship and gained resilience and determination in doing so. Jed has become an asset to Northumbrian Water and TDR. We are very proud of his accomplishments and look forward to hearing about his future career journey with Northumbrian Water.
If you are interested in finding an apprenticeship through TDR or joining the September 2022 EAAP cohort please contact us at bss@tdrtraining.co.uk