Nineteen-year-old Ross Glancy was in fifth year at Kirkcaldy High when he began looking for an apprenticeships. After being unsuccessful, he decided to stay on at school for his final year, before continuing his search again.
Ross is now working with Fife Housing Group as their first ever Housing Apprentice.
He has an initial one year contract with the organisation, whilst working towards obtaining his SVQ and CIH Level 2 in Housing Practice.
Ross said: “I hadn’t applied for college or university in sixth year because I wanted to get into full-time work and start making my own money. As an apprentice I knew I would be working, but also gaining qualifications which would broaden my knowledge.”
He declared that his inspiration for an apprenticeship stems from the fact that he would be getting paid while learning new skills.
As part of his apprenticeship, Ross shadows various Housing Officers in their day-to-day tasks, as well as directly dealing with any lock-up or garage arrears that Fife Housing lease out. Ross believes that he brings new ideas and enthusiasm to the organisation.
He said: “I like the diversity of this apprenticeship. I have worked in most of the departments and there are always opportunities for me to enhance my knowledge through training and shadowing my colleagues.”
Ross stated that he would encourage other young people to undertake an apprenticeship in the Housing Sector:
“It’s such a good experience, there are so many jobs you can do within housing. By shadowing different departments I’ve realised all the different job roles that are available. You would never think that there are so many jobs in housing! It can help you see the variety of career opportunities that are available within this sector.”
Housing manager Beverley Graham explains how this could be the beginning of a bright future for Ross: “This apprenticeship was developed to encourage young people to take their first steps to a career in housing and although the position is for one year initially, in the future we would hope to see Ross progress through Level 3 and Level 4 in his Housing Studies.”