Apprenticeship Secured Future For Jobless Single Dad

Delivering pizza and cleaning windows helped father-of-two Tom White keep his head above water.

But after overcoming a host of significant personal challenges to complete an apprenticeship with leading IT training provider Pearson in Practice – part of the vocational training division of Pearson – Tom’s determination to provide for his young family has secured him the job of his dreams in IT.

Just months after completing his apprenticeship, 25-year-old Tom landed a job at SafelinQ UK, a company that provides GPS and telemetry solutions for a wide range of industries and government and law enforcement agencies.

Tom said: “Securing the future for me and my children has always been my priority. But I was struggling to find a good job because I didn’t have any qualifications, or any experience.”

Tom, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, suddenly found himself the sole carer for Martin, aged three, and William, aged two about two years ago. He was living in a small bedsit and had to give up working to look after them.

While he was attending ‘positive parenting’ training sessions at the Banbury Young Homeless People (BYHP) project, Tom heard about apprenticeship opportunities at Pearson in Practice, the UK’s leading provider of IT support training.

Tom graduated from Pearson in Practice’s Banbury academy after an intensive five-month course. He not only achieved 90% attendance and excellent scores in his exams, but was awarded the Microsoft Outstanding Apprentice of the Year in Zenos’s national apprenticeship award scheme – beating thousands of others.

Tom said: “It was tough juggling the needs of the kids with my training commitments, but Pearson in Practice gave me lots of support.

“My apprenticeship was like having a proper job and it prepared me very well for work. The training introduces real-life scenarios, which gave me experience that’s essential in my job in customer support. Now I have the qualifications I need to succeed, as well as life skills to use in a professional work environment.”

But Tom’s not resting on his laurels. “The children are in full time day care and happy, and I’m looking forward to progressing my career in IT and training someone using the knowledge and experience I have now.”

Jason Moss, Managing Director of Pearson in Practice IT, said: “Tom is just one of many young people who has turned his life around with the help of a Pearson in Practice apprenticeship.

“His hard work and determination to overcome some very difficult circumstances shone through during his time with us, which is why we chose him to be our Outstanding Apprentice of the Year. We are absolutely delighted to see how well he is doing, and are confident he can look forward to a bright future for himself and his children.”