Posted 26.04.2021

In August 2019 Stephen* was referred to Marty McLoughlin, one of our Job Match Supported Employment Officers, to help him on his route to gain employment.  At the initial referral meeting Marty learned that Stephen’s aim was to gain employment to enable his participation in an Apprenticeship with training delivered by Building Services Academy (BSA).

Marty supported Stephen by helping him to engage with and identify a willing employer - resulting in a positive outcome as Stephen was offered employment with IceMOS as an Apprentice Technician.

Stephen has autism that presents as sensory sensitivity and difficulty with social interaction. So prior to starting with IceMOS in November 2019 Stephen completed a Job Analysis with Marty to identify his needs within his new work environment. The reasonable adjustments he required had no associated cost and included establishing a trusted colleague he could report to with work-related queries, and a basic level of autism awareness amongst his colleagues.

Through the in-work support phase of Job Match, to discuss and address issues within his employment and training environment, Marty further supported Stephen by liaising with his tutors in BSA and manager in IceMOS to resolve issues promptly. 

Stephen’s Manager at IceMOS said:

He (Stephen) has a keen interest in learning and developing skills, attention to detail, and ability to focus. He shows good initiative as well as a good attitude. He shows the ability to work independently as well as part of the team and has exceptional communication skills.

On his contribution to business operations his Manager said:

Stephen has provided excellent support to our Technicians/Engineers in the areas of equipment maintenance and repair… Stephen has surprised us with his level of IT skills: installation, upgrades and repairs - providing great support and working closely with our IT team. His work is always of a high standard… with perfect time-keeping. Stephen is extremely beneficial to IceMOS as his overall attitude and work ethic can be adapted and implemented to meet our needs.

On the benefit of apprenticeships his Manager said:

IceMOS strongly believe that the apprenticeship scheme is valuable to both us and the student.

Feedback from Stephen’s tutor has also been very encouraging too. His performance in training has been excellent – achieving top of class in exams!

Stephen continues to attend BSA to study towards a Level 3 Electrotechnical qualification while working for IceMOS. He says he is ‘loving his job’ and is extremely grateful for the support he has received from Marty since starting on Job Match. Stephen now plans to learn to drive so that he can drive to work and run errands for family.

*Participant’s name has been changed throughout

Read more on how Marty and the Job Match team can help you on your apprenticeship journey

If you want to find out more about taking on a disabled apprentice contact:

Lisa McVeigh, Training Support Services Manager (Temporary) Mobile: 07967 737470 E-mail: [email protected] or Anne Reid, Job Match Manager (Interim), Mobile: 07767 112291 E-mail: [email protected]