National Apprentice Week – Meet Ewan

National Apprenticeship Week Monday 6^th February – Sunday 12^th February

Apprenticeships are an incredible route for students to learn through a hands on learning experience alongside a highly qualified mentor.

We will be highlighting a few of our teams stories this week to encourage students who are considering the apprenticeship route.

Meet Ewan Forsythe our second year Electrical Apprentice who joined the NUGENT team in August 2022.

Ewan, tell us a bit about yourself

I Studied at Ballyclare Secondary school where I was interested in technology and design. I come from a farming background and have experience working on machinery and cars. Through each of these hobbies, I began to develop an interest within the electrical industry where I decided to pursue this career and enrolled at the Belfast Met for Electrical Installation.

I currently attend the college 1 day a week and I am on the Northern Regional College (NRC) site in Coleraine 4 days a week where I have gained a wealth of experience electrically learning from the team on site.

What made you choose NUGENT for your apprenticeship?

I chose NUGENT as it was a large growing company that had the ability to teach me everything I would need in my apprenticeship. It is great to see multiple apprentices have stayed on within the company and worked their way up.

Do you enjoy the apprenticeship route so far and would you recommend the apprenticeship path to other students?

I enjoy the apprenticeship a lot as I love to be hands on when working and learning, it is also something that has became an interest as well as a job. I would highly recommend it.

There are many opportunities from studying an apprenticeship. Last year I participated in an Electrical Skill Building competition which I came 2nd place. I was put forward by my tutor at the Belfast Met, which was a great experience for myself especially as a first-year Electrical apprentice. We were gave 4.5 hours to complete the Electrical task which I won a tool bag from the competition. I am participating in another Electrical Skill Building competition this week Thursday 8th February which I am looking forward to having gained much skills and knowledge within my second year of learning now.

On a daily basis, what are your day-to-day tasks?

Tasks could range anywhere from wiring different circuits, steel containment, fitting accessories, tracing circuits, fault finding, installing temporary supplies and much more.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

I can see myself progressing within the company and moving further up the ladder with NUGENT. In the next 5 years, I would like to be overseeing the construction of different sites and managing the onsite team. There are great progress opportunities as the company is continually expanding.