Tom Swetman Case Study
Tom is now Community IT Technician with ViSTA – a Charity specialising in learning and workforce development for individuals, communities and charitable enterprise and one of the founding members of Fair Train. Tom was waiting to go to University, but due to personal circumstances this didn’t work out for him. He spent his time wisely, teaching himself new skills within the computing world until he saw the ICT apprenticeship opportunity with ViSTA advertised at Job Centre Plus. He applied, was successful at interview and started work in August 2010.
He expected to be given all the mundane jobs that nobody else wanted to do, which he feels is the general perception out there about apprenticeships.
Tom says:
‘It hasn’t been like this at all. I have done such a wide variety of things since being at ViSTA. When I first started, I got thrown in the deep end really and it did me the world of good. I was set to work on the Intergenerational project very early on which included going out into the community showing older people how to use computer software to create postcards of their past.
I was handed responsibility for of all the computers and laptops in the office and was asked to provide continued support in maintaining and updating the systems. I have also done some web development work with another company which really boosted my skill set and enabled me to provide yet another service for my company.
Now that my apprenticeship is over I have been promoted to Community IT Technician where I undertake a range of web design, IT support and IT training for community groups, other charities and voluntary organisations.’ 
I have achieved so much, not just what I have learnt around computing but I have developed my personal skills too. When I came to ViSTA I was very quiet and reserved, I really disliked having to meet new people and tended to hide away from these situations. But now I feel I have the confidence to do almost anything. I meet new people on a daily basis - this to me is my greatest achievement within my job role and I think without being thrown in the deep end and given the support I was given, it would never have happened. My biggest work related achievement has to be the web development work I have done. Before coming here, I did not know how to do it and now I have one site under my belt and I am working on developing additional functions to other websites as well as populating and running other large scale websites.’
Tom originally wanted to go into artificial intelligence programming for video games but after his time at ViSTA he would like to be a part of a successful IT community support team with some occasional web development work. He would like to continue working with ViSTA to develop a community IT program that would benefit those that have difficulty accessing training and support in computing. He would also like to see himself being outsourced more to other organisations that need IT support but cannot afford to hire an IT expert of their own on a full time basis.
Tom says:
‘I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship to younger people, especially those like myself who simply cannot afford to progress to University. I have learnt so much from my time on an apprenticeship and you know what, academic qualifications are not everything. I would say to other young people if you can find a company that will take you on as an apprentice in the field you would like to work in, go for it! Experience counts for so much more in life. I struggled for 18 months to get a job with my qualifications. I think with the experience I have gained through my apprenticeship that employers would actually overlook academics and take on someone with experience in the field.’
Company no 6074763 , Registered Charity no 1119172, Telephone: 08453 580372
UK Learning Provider Reference Number: 10020323