Work Inspiration The journey starts here Career path opportunities for school and college leavers
About Axis’ Work Inspiration We are linking up with local education institutions like yours to help young people understand and develop the skills they need to take the next steps after formal education. Together we can provide a practical and inspiring insight into the world of work that develops skills and empowers your students to make informed choices about their next career steps. With Axis your students can access the following: • Work experience placements (from aged 14 and over) • Career talks and mentoring • CV skills and mock interview workshops • Apprenticeships (from aged 16 and over)
Being A Good Neighbour One of the many ways we ensure Axis is a responsible business and active community member is by building relationships with Schools, Colleges and Academies in the areas we work. Together we can engage young people – your students – and give them access to the skills, information and opportunities they need to make the transition into work.
Helping Students Realise Their Potential Young people are the workforce of the future and bring with them new skills and a fresh perspective. But many, as they reach the end of formal education, lack direction, practical workplace experience or a proper understanding of their career options. We share our experience and insight to help them realise their potential. Early exposure to the workplace and professionals with a wealth of experience to pass on will help students make informed decisions and improve employment prospects.
More than Bricks and Mortar Axis is classified as a construction business, but our work comprises even more than bricks and mortar! It takes us right into the heart of people’s homes, into a busy brand-new office development; onto a factory floor, up a high-rise block or into one of the precious heritage buildings we conserve for the future. Work at Axis can be on site or office-based; abseiling down a building or spearheading initiatives in Health and Safety; creating a marketing campaign, studying for a degree in Quantity Surveying or helping residents in their homes.
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85% of us working in our industry would recommend a career in construction Considerate Constructors Scheme Survey
Work Inspiration
Together we can support young people to get ahead, equipping them with the skills, information and opportunities they need for work Axis CEO, John Hayes
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Boosting Students' Employability We’re helping young people get work ready by giving them the employability skills that businesses require for the ever-changing needs of today’s economy.
Research for the Education and Employers Taskforce, a charity advocating career talks in schools, found pupils who have contact with employers at school will go on to earn 16% more on average than pupils who do not have the work inspiration Work Inspiration (From aged 14 and over) We see work experience as vitally important in helping young people successfully make the transition between education and employment, so we offer genuine, worthwhile work experience placements for young people aged 14 and over – we call it ‘Work Inspiration’. Employing over 900 people across both Business Support and practical Construction disciplines means we can offer students the chance to meet people and learn skills across the business and see a range of tasks being performed. This is beneficial all round. The young person joining us for work experience will learn people and work skills. We are always on the lookout for rising stars to join the business: many work experience students have been recruited into our apprentice programme. Work Inspiration benefits for students: • Improving career prospects • Learning new skills • Exposure to workplace culture • Finding a role that interests them • Working with experienced professionals • Getting spotted (rising stars)
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Work Inspiration
Career Talks & Mentoring Giving students access to mentors who share their career journey and experiences creates new perspectives and inspires new ideas, making a crucial difference to the options a young person considers when making career choices.
Career talk and mentoring benefits for students: • Understanding routes to employment • Alternative career choices • Motivation and inspiration • Positive next steps
Experienced Axis people can discuss pathways to work with groups via ‘career talks’ or 1-2-1 Mentoring, offering tangible career advice informed by their own experiences. Discussions often include student career aspirations, opportunities within different industries and sectors and routes to work. Some students get the chance to see, hear and make a connection with someone in a career or job they might not have thought about, while others meet and speak to inspirational people who do the jobs they are considering.
You could be the person who changes the life of a young person, just by showing them the options available Axis MD, Joe Ibrahim
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School engagement with the world of work can help young people transition into employment Axis MD, Tim Hayes
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Work Inspiration
Face to Face: Experience and Support
Apprenticeships
Axis people are committed to offering practical faceto-face tailored support to help young people make career choices.
Axis is enthusiastic and passionate about apprentices and interns which is why we are dedicated to ensuring that they make up at least 10% of our work force. In any year we can have over 90 people enrolled on our apprentice programme.
You will find us at schools and careers fairs guiding students on career options and showcasing careers, internships, part time work and apprenticeships on offer at Axis. We run practical workshops and training sessions with pupils to build confidence for interviews and networking. We engage with universities and colleges and academies often taking pupils on site tours to show them the ropes – literally! Benefits for students: • Personal effectiveness • Employability skills: interview and recruitment skills • Occupational awareness: bespoke career advice based on their career ambitions and interests • Social capital: opportunity to expand their effective personal networks, allowing them access to larger numbers of professionals
Axis gave us an excellent opportunity to see how the theory we have learnt in the classroom is applied on site Students at University of Portsmouth School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, after going on on a site tour of our works
More than 400 young people have started careers through our apprentice programme and many have gone on to become supervisors and managers within Axis, valuable members of our supply chain and even business owners in their own right. Our structured, paid apprentice programme develops people and helps them grow within their career. Our Core Value 3 clearly highlights training and development: our people's growth becomes our growth. All apprentices come from the areas in which we work. The diversity of their backgrounds, ages and cultures is celebrated here at Axis. As well as learning their trades on site and in college the apprentices complete an annual Apprentice Challenge which is an opportunity to develop project management, presentation and communication skills.
My internship has given me so much confidence and has set me up really well for my future career as I have gained really valuable experience here. They've shown a lot of faith in me and always presented me with opportunities to learn new skills Deniz Ali, Axis Intern, age 20
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Don’t take our word for it
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It’s great getting training and practical experience as well as learning new skills on site and at college
This is a great opportunity to learn new skills. Also, in college you learn theory, here you are actually working in people’s homes
Aaran Neville, Apprentice Painter & Decorator
Ryan Ogborn, Apprentice Painter & Decorator
Francesca Fordham, Apprentice Painter & Decorator, received the Principal’s Award and Apprentice of the Year Award at North Kent College who said:
Fran is a shining example of someone who does not fit all the stereotypes of people who generally enter this trade... Axis recognised that she had something more to give
Work Inspiration
Here at Axis we always remember that our CEO and our MDs were all Apprentices once! We offer a range of trade-based apprenticeships including electrical, plumbing, painting, carpentry, quantity surveying, and administration. Apprentices work with experts on real live contracts with our clients.
The best bits are learning from experts and getting as much practical experience as possible
This isn't just a job. it's the start of a career and I am being given the tools and knowledge to succeed
Gavin Griffin Apprentice Plumber
Kai Applewhaite Apprentice Plumber
Axis Core Value 3 Train and develop people – their growth becomes our growth
Apprenticeships at Axis provide young people with: • Training • Academic qualifications – NVQs and Degrees • Help from the experts • Careers • Opportunities for self employment • Genuine work experience • Confidence • Ability • Real-life working environment • Chance to learn industry standards and best practice
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A Responsible Business Other ways we aim to be a good neighbour and support your school, college or academy – and your students. Reading Programme Helping children develop their literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening enables them to communicate more effectively and make sense of the world. We believe it’s never too early to prepare children for their futures, which is where our reading programme comes in. We’ve been supporting school reading programmes for over a decade, helping hundreds of young children
achieve key skills for national curriculum and relevant assessments, including: Early Years Foundation, phonics screening check, KS1 and KS2 National Curriculum Tests, and GCSEs. Our DBS verified volunteers attend lunch-time reading sessions where they work with students of all ages and abilities fostering a love of reading and communication.
We have been so delighted to have readers from Axis come in on a weekly basis to work with the children, who benefit immensely and have developed word reading and comprehension skills Susan Eade, Deputy Head at St Marks Primary
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Work Inspiration
VOLUNTEERING AND FUNDRAISING
Donations
Here at Axis we say "Giving is in our DNA". Our dedicated Responsible Business Team co-ordinates our Volunteering and Fundraising.
Our award-winning charity, the Axis Foundation, celebrated its 10th birthday in 2019. Our remit is to donate to small, local and impactful causes and individuals in the communities where we work.
Working at Axis means I can support my local community too
Our donations have provided play areas for young people in deprived areas; helped keep young people safe and drive down knife crime; provided specialist equipment so young people with disabilities can socialise and enjoy life better; offered sporting opportunities for young disadvantaged people and introduced urban schoolchildren to the wonders of nature.
Axis employee Everyone at Axis has a Volunteer Day. Our volunteers have provided play areas and nursery spaces; helped at schools with repairs and equipment; adapted homes for the handicapped and visited the sick; cleaned up streets and brought Christmas Cheer. Our Fundraisers work tirelessly to raise money for our charity the Axis Foundation and for our charity partner, Demelza Hospice. Activities include skydiving, paintballing, Tough Mudder, the Arctic Challenge as well as Bake Offs and Wear it Pink Days.
The Axis Foundation’s donation helped us buy beautiful new furniture making our classrooms a flexible learning space Stepney City Farm
Our nursery has got a well-needed fresh coat of paint: Axis provided staff and materials and built a new planter in the garden, increasing the number of play stations Centre Nursery
Axis Core Value 6 A community we contribute to will welcome and value us
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Dispelling the Myths Let’s explore – and explode – some myths about working in construction! Construction is manual, dirty, outdoor work
Construction is for those who do not do well in school
The excitement of being on site might not appeal to all. Not all jobs are site based. Supporting the front of the business are the busy teams who comprise Business Support: Human Resources, IT, Health and Safety, Marketing, Sustainability, Community Investment, Business Development and Facilities Management.
A good education is essential to a professional career in construction. At Axis we can support you through your degree, NVQ or the most relevant qualifications: Surveyors, Architects, Master Bricklayers, Painters and Decorators, Skilled Craftsmen, Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, Roofers, Scaffolders and Apprentices – to name but a few.
It’s boring work Like all jobs it’s what you make of it – as we are dealing with people and their homes or their favourite projects, no two days seem the same!
Construction work is dangerous Our brilliant Health and Safety Team ensuring your safety with regular training, safety initiatives and Toolbox Talks.
Construction jobs are low paid A career in construction can be lucrative. According to latest research by the Federation of Master Builders, construction apprentices earn more than many of their university-educated counterparts.
Construction is a man’s world While there are still more men than women in the industry, the number of women in construction is growing and the industry is no longer seen as ‘just for boys’. At Axis our Gender Pay Gap gets smaller every year and key managers – on and off site – are women.
Construction is an old-fashioned industry Modern construction uses the latest most exciting technology, including Building Information Modelling (BIM), drones, nanotechnology and exoskeletons.
If you are interested in finding out more please contact: workinspiration@axiseurope.com
72% of industry professionals cited the challenging nature of work as the main benefit of a construction career Considerate Constructors Scheme Survey