Electrical Contracting News (ECN) June 2017 | Page 30

FEATURE
APPRENTICESHIPS
HARRY’S GAME
ECN meets JTL electrical apprentice Harry
Bartle, who hails from Lancaster. Harry has
already experienced significant success in
apprenticeship awards and qualified for the
National Awards Final for JTL this year.
What made you join the
electrical industry?
I joined the electrical industry to gain
an understanding of vocational study
which was technical and involved
applying practical and theoretical related
sciences when working on an industrial/
commercial scale.
So how did it all begin?
I felt very fortunate to be given the
opportunity of an apprenticeship after a
successful interview at Chris Bowker in
2011. The company has fully supported
me and has provided me with excellent
training and support alongside JTL
and their excellent and encouraging
training officers, who are there to help
apprentices and their employers to ensure
as smooth a path as possible through
the apprenticeship for both parties. I
have always felt indebted to them for this
opportunity and have pushed myself to
achieve and progress in return for their
trust in me. This has included taking on
roles and responsibilities on site as soon
as I gained the appropriate knowledge
and understanding to do so. I’ve enjoyed
forming great relationships with over 100
work colleagues, learning from everyone
I’ve been fortunate to work with, collecting
different ideas, skills and methods of
doing things from everyone I have worked
with, during my apprenticeship.
What has the apprenticeship
allowed you to do so far?
It’s allowed me to gain a Level 3 electrical
installation qualification through an on
site portfolio and college exams. I have
been fortunate enough to have worked on
jobs around the country, living away from
home and taking on bigger projects year
by year. One I really enjoyed was having
the opportunity to support the project
management of a new build hospital. The
work covered everything from interpreting
drawings, installing distribution panels,
testing, fault finding, ordering materials
and managing other colleagues. I have
thoroughly enjoyed gaining great experience
and knowledge from this and every project I
have been involved in. The biggest highlight
of my apprenticeship so far was passing
my 2394 Initial Verification of Electrical
Installation and 2395 Periodic Testing and
Inspection whilst aged just 19. This gave
me great confidence for the last years of
my apprenticeship, to apply an extra skill to
my trade. I was able to use this skill when
recently individually testing a £17m hospital
redevelopment in Cheshire.
We understand you have
already got an impressive
award under your belt?
Tell us about it.
One of Harry’s prizes
as winner of of the
ECA Edmundson
Apprentice of the
Year Award was
a study trip with
Schneider Electrical
to Grenoble in
France.
30 | June 2017
I was nominated by my employer and my
JTL training advisor for the ECA Edmundson
National Apprentice of the Year Award. It
involved firstly