How to hire an apprentice that's right for your organisation
24 February 2025
Hiring an apprentice is a big decision for your business, so it’s all the more important that whoever you choose doesn’t just have the learning potential, but the personal skills to fit into a team too.
In this guide we’ll walk through the essential steps to hire an apprentice successfully, ensuring both employer and apprentice benefit from the experience. We'll also take a look at how to choose the right candidate, and what help apprenticeship training providers can give you in the recruitment process.
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Consider your business needs
In understanding how to employ an apprentice, you first need to start at the beginning: your business needs. For many operating small and medium-sized businesses, it will be pretty easy to work out - a plumbing business, for instance, can often easily assess whether they need an apprentice plumber. However, for other organisations it may take more time in assessing where the need is within the business.
Nevertheless, take time to define what you need from the role, considering:
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What skills gaps exist within the business?
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What level of apprentice suits your needs?
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Which team will the apprentice join?
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What career path could this apprenticeship lead to within your organisation?
By considering these points from the off, you’ll get a better understanding of what role you’re looking to fill.
At PfP Thrive, we’re uniquely placed in understanding the needs of the housing sector, and so we work with other housing providers to identify areas of focus for their apprentice needs. If you’d like some support with ensuring that potential apprenticeships within your organisation are focused on the right areas for now and the future, we can help. Get in touch with us today.
Next, how are you finding your ideal candidates?
If you’re looking to hire an apprentice, you need to think about how you plan on attracting them to your business. The easiest way is to advertise your vacancy with the Gov.uk website. First you’ll need to find yourself a training provider - one that puts your apprentice and your organisation at the heart of learning. They’ll be able to advertise your apprenticeship position onto the right channels, making sure you’re attracting the best talent.
To attract the right candidate for your business, you need to create an appealing and realistic job description. It should include an introduction to your company, a job description, info on the skills you’re looking for in an ideal candidate, as well as the salary and working hours. It’s worth avoiding making the role sound too like an entry-level job, though. Highlighting future development opportunities will help to attract the most motivated candidates.
Alternatively, you can also give your training provider permission in your apprenticeship services account to carry out recruitment advertising on your behalf.
Consider the soft skills needed for the job
Most things can be taught, but it’s the ‘soft skills’ that you’ll need to look out for when trying to find your ideal apprentice. You need to be able to look at skills such as communication, problem solving, and teamwork, just as much as a person’s academic background.
The benefit of employing an apprentice is you can focus on the attitudes and behaviours of that person, rather than focussing on previous skills or experience. This means you can target the right person for your organisation, and let the apprenticeship training give them the skills and experience they need to thrive.
When you’re interviewing candidates, consider the following:
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Time management - From their CV and interview questions, do they demonstrate an ability to manage their own time, and could they be considered reliable?
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Communication - Whilst some roles will require more communication skills than others, it’s important that an ideal candidate is able to interact with others, especially as they’ll be dealing with lots of different people in both their job and training.
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Teamwork - Do you think they’ll work well with others? Teamwork can be demonstrated in many different ways - from examples of collaborating in previous jobs, hobbies or whilst in education, right the way through to a physical group exercise on interview day.
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Problem solving and initiative - Consider whether they can think on their own two feet and adapt to new challenges. Assess by asking them examples of when they have had to problem solve, or have been put in a situation where they had to use their own initiative.
It’s important not to expect perfection, especially as this may be the start of their career. However, finding someone who’s willing to learn and grow will set your business up in good stead for the future.
Culture fit
It’s not enough just to assess a candidate’s technical and soft skills. In hiring for an apprentice, you’ll need to work out whether they fit with your company culture, otherwise it could lead to issues in the future.
Throughout the recruitment process, consider how they interact. For example, are they polite and courteous? Do they demonstrate a passion for your industry and to work? It’s important to allow candidates to ask as many questions as possible about your company - this will also allow you to make a judgement on how passionate they are about working for you.
Onboarding
When your apprentice starts, it’s important to have a clear structured onboarding process. As part of that, they should be given a full plan of learning, including details of who they’ll be working with, information about your company values, as well as all HR policies.
The learning plan should be set out from day one, including what is expected of them, including the key milestones you expect them to be hitting, and when. Having a clear plan won’t just be helpful for your new apprentice, it will also mean you and your team are able to properly organise how the learner is spending their time to make sure they are getting the most out of the experience.
To make sure you’re embedding them in properly, consider giving your apprentice a work buddy - someone they can go to for support and guidance throughout, this will be especially important for them in the early days of their new role.
Supporting your apprentice for success
Whatever your needs, finding the right apprentice will ensure that you take someone on who demonstrates the most potential for your organisation. By focussing not only on academic ability, but soft skills too, you’ll be in a better position to decide whether a candidate is right for you. After all, hiring an apprentice is a big commitment and so taking time to pick the right person will help ensure success not just for your business, but for your apprentice too.
Here at PfP Thrive, we are a specialist apprenticeship training provider, who can provide you with the advice and support to navigate the apprentice hiring process.
As part of Places for People, the UK’s leading social enterprise, our unique insight and expertise within the housing sector can assist addressing any skill gaps you have within your business.
To find out more about how we can help your organisation and the successful transition of an apprentice, please contact us today.