“I left school at 15 with no qualifications. Several dead end jobs later, I went to college to do an HNC. By then I was 20 and no one would offer me an apprenticeship because I was ‘too old’. All I needed was a chance – which BT gave me. I’ve gained qualifications, won Apprentice of the Year and the Young Person of the Year Award, and am now doing a Business Management degree.”

“I joined at the ripe old age of 20 with college qualifications, looking for something different and challenging. That’s exactly what Openreach is. I’ve been wowed by the technology, and done everything from coaching a small team to heading projects and patent searching. If you have the drive to do well you’re supported to move in whichever direction you wish and there’s no discrimination. Women, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) and the disabled have equal chances too, as I have with my article on ‘coming out’ in Diva, the lesbian magazine.”

“There are always opportunities to try new things and learn about different areas of the business. Starting with a BTEC in Telecoms, I’ve been able to build on my skills and experience. I’ve also moved on as a person and BT has allowed me to travel in pursuit of an international weightlifting career. Thanks to this support my disability hasn’t stopped me and I’ve the determination to succeed.”

BT’s apprenticeship scheme is acknowledged as one of the best in the UK. We talk to Mark Biffin, BT’s apprenticeship programme and strategy manager, about how the scheme nurtures our young talent, creates our future leaders and helps drive the company forward.

It’s never been more important to nurture our talent. Apprenticeships offer the opportunity to bridge the skills gaps that we face as changing technologies impact on our traditional ideas about delivering customer requirements. They enable us to grow the skills we’ll need to maintain and improve levels of service in the future.

We recruit bright, keen and talented individuals with a mindset of wanting to challenge things and make a difference to how we work.They bring new ideas and a fresh outlook. To maximise their impact on the business, we strongly encourage them to get involved in networking – with each other, with development managers and many others at all levels of BT.

They earn a proper salary, work on real projects and pick up real skills – out in the field with engineers, at the research centre, or sorting out problems for customers. But they also receive a structured development path that includes an academic qualification and opportunities to progress to further qualifications, whether for NVQs, BTECs, HNCs, a degree and to get professional qualifications. And because BT is a huge international company dealing in cutting-edge technology, they get the chance to work on things you can’t find anywhere else and to find their own niche.

Apprentices can become our leaders of the future, so we don’t put any glass ceilings in the way of their progression. They can rise as far as their talent and hard work deserve. We also place a big focus on life skills, getting apprentices to support activities such as the Prince’s Trust, Challenge Africa, TA duties and exchange visits to Deutsche Telekom. We expose apprentices to lots of ideas, people and technologies, give them opportunities and responsibilities, and support them in what they want to do.

www.bt.com/apprentice