How hiring an apprentice with us actually works.

Six steps from first call to first day. Typical timeline is 6–8 weeks. We do the heavy lifting on recruitment so you don't sift through 200 CVs.

01
Week 0

Discovery call

20 minutes on a video call. You tell us about your team, your skills gap, and what kind of role you'd want an apprentice to grow into. We tell you what funding applies and which apprenticeship standard fits.

02
Week 1

Role design

We co-write a one-page role brief: responsibilities, line manager, growth path, indicative salary. This becomes the recruitment ad and the apprenticeship agreement.

03
Weeks 2–4

Recruitment & shortlisting

We post the role to our applicant pool (200+ pre-registered candidates), the National Apprenticeship Service, and our partner channels. We screen for fit and commitment. Around 4 weeks later you get 3–5 shortlisted candidates with our notes on each.

04
Week 5

Your interviews

You interview the shortlist. Usually two rounds — informal chat plus a short task. We sit in on the first round if you'd like a second opinion. You make the final call.

05
Weeks 5–6

Offer & paperwork

You issue the employment offer. We handle the apprenticeship agreement, commitment statement, and DSAT (the government funding paperwork). About 5 hours of admin total, most of it ours.

06
Weeks 6–8

Start date

Apprentice joins your team. First Wednesday they're with us for off-the-job training. We sync with you fortnightly thereafter, so you always know what they're working on and how they're progressing.

Who does what

Division of labour

What CPD does

  • Source and shortlist candidates
  • Apprenticeship paperwork (agreement, commitment statement, funding admin)
  • Off-the-job training (the Wednesday day)
  • Apprenticeship coach + monthly progress reviews
  • EPA preparation and booking
  • Mediation if anything's going off-track

What you do

  • Interview and choose the apprentice
  • Issue the employment offer + pay the wages
  • Nominate a workplace mentor (existing team member, ~1hr/wk)
  • Give them real work to do (no fetching coffee)
  • Protect their off-the-job day (Wednesdays with us)
  • Fortnightly catch-ups with us

Ready for step one?

Book the discovery call. 20 minutes, no commitment, no pitch.