A former IT student from Solihull College & University Centre is soaring just ten months into his degree apprenticeship, having secured his role ahead of 300 other applicants.
Matt Elliot was unsure what to do after his GCSEs, but after enrolling the College on a full-time computing course, he found his feet and started to flourish. He comments: “I always liked IT, but after my GCSEs I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. However, after enrolling on the course I realised I had made the right decision – the course made things easy for me, I felt as though I was supported and everything fell into place.”
When Matt had to make the decision on what to do after completing his Level 3 college course, he faced a tough decision. He knew he didn’t want the upheaval and financial commitment of going to university, so started looking for jobs and apprenticeships.
Matt comments: “IT apprenticeships are hard to come by. I kept checking the Government website as recommended, but not much was coming up. Then my lecturer guided me towards an apprenticeship with Platform Housing Group. I applied and was then asked to prepare a presentation with only 72 hours’ notice to show my skills.”
Matt presented at an open day in Worcester and realised he was up against several hundred applicants for only 6 spaces. The pool was then whittled down to 30. Matt went through more assessments and was then eventually told he had secured an apprenticeship, shortly after winning Student of the Year at college.
Matt started last September and is encouraged about his future with Platform. He has learnt a lot about the business already: “I have moved across a wide area of rotations in the IT division such as App Support, App Development, Service Desk, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity and Data Engineering. I am soon going to be making my choice on which path I’d like to take on the next stage of the apprenticeship. My 3 choices are currently Service Desk, Cybersecurity and App Support.
Matt continues: “I, alongside some of the other apprentices, also presented to the CEO and the Board of the company on our experiences at Platform and any changes we feel would be beneficial to the company. Overall, my time at Platform so far have been fantastic. I have met so many new people and learnt so many new skills. I can’t wait for what lies ahead of me in the company and what opportunities will be here in the future.”
We wish Matt all the best in his future with Platform!
