One of the first major recruitment companies to offer apprenticeships has urged careers officers in schools to push youngsters towards the industry.

Lee Gamble, managing director of Berry Recruitment, said taking on trainee consultants is difficult because young people are often unaware of the opportunities.

Recruitment is well paid with swift career progression and yet it is hard to attract the younger generations – which was why the company introduced apprenticeships in 2023. Berry Recruitment has branches across England and it covers the entire country with its app.

The company – part of the Berry Recruitment Group - has a dozen apprentices across its branches at the moment with others from its first intake now trainees. Lee said:

“Recruitment does seem to be a lost option within our education system; I’d love more careers officers to identify potential recruitment consultants. Because there are no real formal tertiary qualifications, careers officers often don’t give it the same focus they do with other types of career."

“Recruitment adds £40bn a year to the UK economy and it can be lucrative for those who have the right personalities. Recruits need to be good with people, confident on the phone and persistent. One bonus we have found and which other businesses might also find, is the ease with which youngsters take to new technology."

“We have introduced a great deal of tech recently including our app, and the younger generations can get up to speed with it all in minutes. They have been immersed in tech their whole lives, they were educated using smartboards and iPads and seem to instinctively understand it."

“For some other established staff it can take months to move them from a more analogue way of operating to a digital way. There can be issues with youngsters too; some have verbal communication reticence which we have to overcome, and others aren’t keen on working from an office five days a week."

“But being in a working environment is crucial for new starters to be able to learn from more experienced staff – and our successful apprentices do realise this. Another issue is helping students find work experience; you have to go through so many hoops now that often it is just not worth it for employers."

“There was a time when a work experience teenager would come into a branch and we’d identify their potential and offer them a job after they finished school. But that route to get youngsters into the industry has become narrower."

“Hiring youngsters can be expensive and risky for employers but I’d urge them to look at the positives as we have – and I’d like school leavers to be told about a possible future in recruitment.”