BT doubles its apprentice scheme as demand surges
COMPETITION to become Alan Sugar’s apprentice may be fierce, but it is nothing compared to the fight to become a BT apprentice.
While contestants on the BBC show must fight off just 15 other candidates, graduates hoping to work at the former state telecoms provider have 24,000 to worry about.
The demand for places is so high that BT has announced it will double the size of the scheme to more than 400 places.
BT apprentices tend to start on salaries between £12,000 and £15,000 with successful candidates specialising in either IT, telecoms, electrical systems or customer service and studying for a BTEC or foundation degree.
The new wave of apprentices will be focused on helping BT with its fibre broadband roll out and will be hired by its Openreach business.
The news comes as BT celebrates the formal 50th anniversary of its apprenticeship scheme.
Demand for the scheme has jumped from 9,000 in 2009 and 11,000 in 2008. BT earlier this year raised the academic threshold for which graduates can apply to be an apprentice.