A north-east youngster has become part of the IT crowd thanks to the Press and Journal’s Apprentice 100 campaign.
Converged Communications Solutions has pledged its support to our initiative and has already fulfilled its promise by hiring its first ever apprentice.
Rory McCann, a former Meldrum Academy pupil, recently joined the firm as a trainee software developer and will be working towards a diploma for Information Technology and Telecommunications, SVQ Level 3.
The 19 year old said: “I’m really excited to have joined Converged and am already learning a huge amount from the team around me. The modern apprenticeship scheme is a great way to gain practical experience while also learning theory and gaining a qualification.
“I had always been really keen on computing and science at school, so this technical role is a great fit.”
Nurturing individuals with good general IT skills and training them in the more complex areas of its services has been something Converged has focused on since it was established in 2005. To date, the firm has employed five university graduates that it has trained in a variety of technical roles.
Neil Christie, the company’s founder and technical director, added: “Throughout our 10-year history we have acknowledged the importance of nurturing young talent through the graduates that we have employed. They have all provided an invaluable contribution to the business, but we acknowledged that to support our industry further we needed to also bring on apprentices.
“The ICT industry will continue to grow in importance due to the reliance that businesses, and we as stakeholders, place on technology. It is imperative, therefore, that firms such as ourselves invest in the industry’s future talent and instil the qualities that our systems deliver to clients – speed, reliability and integrity – in our apprentices and our workforce.
“We hope that strengthening our workforce with an apprentice will be something we do each year.
“The Apprentice 100 campaign is a fantastic initiative which the Press and Journal should be commended on running. It highlights the range of jobs that are available in the region and will undoubtedly inspire those currently at school.”