Case Study
ICT Apprenticeship leads Keith to a career in IT
I had a flair for ICT at G.C.S.E but was also wary. I was too scared I would get stuck in the same office doing the same old thing endlessly. I imagined myself working outside perhaps a vet, but after some training and a few harsh placements the reality soon put me off.
Feeling lost, I noticed on Job Centre NI that ICT apprenticeships were available in a vocational setting and when I took the first step to apply I started this journey towards my career as an infrastructure engineer.
Working at Sopra Steria I have met a wide range of fantastic people and there is a terrific spirit of co-operation. Every day you learn more. My move into ICT has been much more rewarding than I could ever expected. Now I work as a member of an Infrastructure team, working on health service based contracts, mostly on a regional based medical imaging system, this is the digitisation of medical images which are electronically captured and then held within the IT infrastructure which is managed and supported by the Sopra Steria team.
I have seen our systems in action at A & E and it was very rewarding as I really saw how we were helping people and making a real difference.
The educational strand at Belfast Met has been really important too and when I graduate with an infrastructure foundation degree I’ll have a qualification that is recognised in the industry – something else that can help secure my future career.
It has been so enjoyable to actually feel like I’m moving forward and making progress and that my skills can also be of benefit to others.
– Why don’t you give it a go?