NEATH: Teenager who thought college was his only option lands DWP apprenticeship

A Neath teenager who thought college was the only road open to him will start an apprenticeship with the Department for Work and Pensions instead.

Mason Jones, 16, secured the apprenticeship, working in pensions, after sessions with the Careers Wales adviser based at his school.

“At first, I felt very limited. I thought college was my only option, even though I wanted an apprenticeship,” Mason said.

He had tried to go it alone. “I’ve always wanted to do an apprenticeship. I tried to find some online and applied by myself, but I wasn’t successful,” he said.

That changed when he met Rebecca Mogford, the school’s careers adviser, and told her he wanted an apprenticeship and, eventually, a career in public service.

Rebecca helped him identify openings that matched his interests and pushed him towards options he might not have found on his own, with college kept as a back-up while the applications went in.

“Rebecca really helped me narrow things down and find apprenticeships I could apply for,” Mason said. “She helped me put myself out there instead of keeping everything to myself.”

The pair met regularly to go through vacancies, and the applications kept going in until one landed: a place with the DWP.

“This is a good opportunity for me to grow and develop my skills,” Mason said.

“I feel like I’ve achieved something really good. I definitely feel like I have a brighter future ahead now.”

Looking back, he believes the support showed him there was more than one path. “Having support really opened my options for what I could do in the future,” he said.

The adviser with a habit of finding the other path

It is not the first time Mogford’s name has appeared in a success story. Last year she helped another Neath student into a law apprenticeship after Beth had assumed A-levels were her only route.

Careers Wales has an adviser based in every secondary school in Wales, and says support is there for any young person unsure about their next step, whether that is university, an apprenticeship, training or a job.

Advice is available from Working Wales by phone, email and webchat, with the service’s virtual assistant, Cari, available around the clock.

For Mason, the result is a foot in the door of the public service career he told his adviser he wanted, without waiting for college to get there.