Gary’s Story: Why apprenticeships are the way forward!

Keen cyclist Gary Freeman has been a Senior Consultant at The Works Recruitment for the past 2 years, and specialises in the Engineering sector.

Gary has always had a passion for engineering, which goes right back to when he left school aged 16. He started off signing up to a 3 year apprenticeship with the North East Chamber of Commerce. This then led onto roles as a CNC Setter Programmer in his home town of Middlesbrough.

“I decided to pursue a career in something that I was always passionate about which was Engineering. Becoming an apprentice trained Engineer from the great industrial town of Middlesbrough was a massive achievement for me.”

After a few years, Gary felt the need to interact more with the public, so decided to leave his “hands on role” in engineering and move into a more customer focused career in retail. However after a few years, Gary realised he needed to move on again. “I just found that something was always missing….. my passion for Engineering!”

So in 2012, Gary decided to move from his home town of Middlesbrough to West Yorkshire as he knew there would be more engineering opportunities in that location. And that was the start of his recruitment journey.

“What better way to work in Engineering than to join the recruitment world! I now have the pleasure of helping and speaking with local Engineers on a daily basis and I absolutely love what I do! If you are considering a career in Engineering, then an apprenticeship is a really great way of getting into the sector. You go to college, learn on the job and get paid too – what more could you want!”

Gary will be on the guest panel at the forthcoming Apprenticeship Careers Panel on 28th January hosted by the Leeds Manufacturing Festival. The online, interactive event will enable students to ask a live panel questions about a career in manufacturing and the skills and qualifications required.

To find out more about the Leeds Manufacturing Festival forthcoming events please visit https://leedsmanufacturingfestival.co.uk/events or CONTACT US.