5 reasons why Apprentice Grooms are always #winning

You may not realise it, but Apprentice Grooms are always winning! Whether you’re a school-leaver looking to forge a successful career in the equine industry or an established groom who would like formal recognition of your abilities with qualifications, an equine apprenticeship will be an almost surefire way of achieving your goals. I say almost surefire because, of course, you have to:

1. Find the right apprenticeship course for your needs

We can help you by discussing:

• your current experience level
• where you would like to see yourself is several years’ time
• your ultimate equine career goals
• what skills, abilities and experience you need in order to get there

2. Find the right employer and yard to give you what you need to successfully complete your course

We can help you by:

• giving you a FREE Jobseekers Profile on The Grooms List website, giving you full access to all facilities on the website
• putting you in touch with suitable employers who are offering the right training opportunities for you to achieve your career goals
• supporting and guiding you throughout your entire equine career, way beyond your Apprenticeship!

3. Stick at it!

That’s just down to you! Although you can call or email us for advice and support if you feel you are struggling or you’re unhappy in your place of work – we love a chat and a ‘virtual’ cup of tea, a problem shared and all that!

 

Want to gain qualifications but happy in your current job? Did you know you may be able to complete an Apprenticeship within your current yard? 

 

Reason #1 – Earn while you learn

Why not stretch yourself by working towards a qualification – you don’t always need to move on to do this you know! An Apprentice is an official employment status, not a student status, therefore all employment laws apply to you whilst you complete your Apprenticeship. This means receiving a minimum wage for ALL of your hours at work, even when you’re receiving training, your employer just needs to be up for what this entails Speak to your employer about it – they can find out lots of information in our Apprentice Zone – Information for Employers here.

Things to consider:

• If you’re aged under 18 you are entitled to the National Minimum Wage for Apprentices, so you receive a proper salary even though you are still in compulsory full-time education, plus legally you can only work up to 40 hours a week!
• If you’re aged 19 or over and you’re in your second year of an Apprenticeship course you must receive the National Minimum Wage for your age, not the Apprentices National Minimum Wage!
• All Apprentices are entitled to statutory holiday pay, sick pay, a Workplace Pension and all other statutory employment rights.
• Whilst it may seem like you don’t get paid much to work as an Apprentice, you must remember that you are gaining official, nationally recognised qualifications. In most other cases you would be paying to gain such qualifications, let alone receiving a salary for taking them!

If that isn’t #winning, I don’t know what is!

 

Reason #2 – Structured training on the job

In the equine industry the term “working pupil”, “working student”, or “trainee groom ” are still used. No one should ever be confused – in legal terms, these roles are all subject to the same employment laws as every other job role.

Currently, there is nothing to stop an employer offering a Junior or Trainee Groom role and calling it whatever they want, but these roles whilst they are very likely to give you practical, on the job skills and some general employment life experience, they won’t be resulting in any actual qualifications. Your employer and maybe others in their team will ‘fit in’ your training as and when they can, sometimes with varying degrees of structure, quality and regularity. Let’s not get over critical though, many of these employers are really conscientious and everyone seems happy with the arrangement (after all let’s face it, not everyone wants qualifications for their own reasons); but the whole point is if you do, with these roles there is no industry standard, no formal approach or framework which will be the same from employer to employer so it can sometimes end up a bit ‘luck of the draw’ which is a risk you don’t need to take when there is a proper, recognised alternative. If you do decide to go this route make sure your Contract of Employment or Statement of Terms and Conditions sets out the terms of your arrangement as precisely as possible. This will go a long way to ensure you are both on the same page from the outset. It seems to be the case that what gets written down in these situations, is more than likely going to be done vs a vague verbal arrangement being your only reference point. This is one of the most important reasons why Apprentice Grooms are always winning.

By contrast, an Apprenticeship is supported and overseen by an official Training Provider, who will ensure you are receiving enough of the right training every single week. By law, at least 8 hours of an Apprentice’s weekly work must be proper training towards their qualification, and this isn’t in any way optional. Your Training Provider will ensure you get plenty of opportunities to do everything you need to do for your qualification within your job role. Oh, and you’ll get paid for your hours of training, too which you should do in any of the roles we have just mentioned too! You will also have an ‘Apprenticeship Agreement’ which is a contract of employment. Your Agreement might be called a Statement of Terms and Conditions or a Contract of Employment, and the document will set out the terms of your apprenticeship. It will contain certain minimum information, such as the place of work, job title, rate of pay, holiday entitlement etc.

That sounds a lot like #winning to me!

 

Reason #3 – Riding courses guarantee riding!

There’s something you need to know about choosing the right Apprentice vacancy for you – riding Apprentice vacancies and apprentice vacancies with riding are two different things! Riding Apprentice vacancies are committed to giving you ample riding opportunities for you to complete your course. Apprentice vacancies with riding are not necessarily obliged to give you the riding opportunities you’d like, as riding may not be a requirement of your course. Let me explain…

If an employer advertises an Apprentice Groom Vacancy with “optional riding” the chances are you might not always receive the number of riding opportunities you want – or need! In fact, even if a vacancy states that “applicants must ride”, it does not guarantee you will be riding every day. If you’re looking for an opportunity to develop your riding skills, a vacancy that offers a plod around the fields on the yard veteran on a daily, weekly or ad hoc basis is going to leave you feeling very short-changed!

If you have chosen a pathway that includes riding, you are assured that your prospective employer is in a position to provide enough of the right type of riding opportunities for you. Before you reach the point of organising a start date for your Apprenticeship, your Training Provider will be able to advise both you and your prospective employer as to your needs and their obligation to fulfil them. A riding Apprenticeship pathway will guarantee you riding, and plenty of it!

Riding + Training + Qualifications + Salary = #winning

 

Reason #4 – Nationally and possibly internationally recognised qualifications

Any qualification acquired via an Apprenticeship is nationally recognised so, it doesn’t matter where you work in the country, your knowledge and skills gained through your training are understood and appreciated. Equine employers reviewing your CV will instantly recognise that you have official third-party verification of your knowledge and abilities.

Although different countries have different courses and qualification types and levels, it’s likely that individual equine employers overseas will recognise that you have surpassed certain standards overseen by official training bodies in Britain. It’s a super foundation to a new career in the equine industry, and an absolute asset to gain later on in your equine career.

You might call that #winning far and wide!

 

Reason #5 – Job longevity (a good start, middle and end to everyone’s CV!)

Job longevity is a phrase you will hear us use time and time again, in person and in our blogs and articles! It’s one of the most desirable attributes to recruiting employers. Therefore, job longevity is one of the key factors that make an equine CV and in turn a fruitful, successful equine career – lack thereof can break so many career moves for you! This is an often unexpected and unrecognised way in which an Apprenticeship can launch successful careers and revive stalling ones – providing, of course, that you stick at it! (Remember point 3 at the start of this blog? )

Many equine careers are ventured into, rather than launched, by Grooms taking the first job available, regardless of the suitability, then after a short while moving on to gain more opportunities to learn or to try a different type of yard. Time and again we see CV’s where this cycle has repeated for years, quite literally! This is not gaining experience. This is not career development. In fact, it can be one of the worst things you can do!

This is one way that an Apprenticeship can launch, or even save, an equine career. All equine Apprenticeship courses are a minimum of 12-18 months in duration. Guess what is the minimum length of time you ideally need to stay in one job? You guessed it! 12-18 months in duration.

To start an equine career with the self-discipline to make a sensible choice of your Apprentice employment AND stick at the course through to the end gives your career an excellent launchpad, believe me! If you continue this beyond gaining your qualification(s), seek advice from specialist equine recruitment consultants like The Grooms List team, and continue to stick at your jobs for a minimum of 12-18 months each, well, the equine world will soon become your oyster!

Now that is #winning now and in the future!

 

Now we’ve explained why Apprentice Grooms are always winning if you’re ready to find out more about starting or refreshing your equine career with an Apprenticeship here’s what to do next:

1. Add or update your FREE Jobseekers Profile on The Grooms List here.
2. Search Apprentice vacancies on The Grooms List here.
3. Find out more about equine Apprenticeships in our Apprentice Zone:
   • Information for Learners is here.
   • Information for Parents is here.
   • Information for Employers is here.
4. Contact us for a friendly, impartial chat about your options here.

We look forward to speaking to you!