Your future. Apply within. QA Learning QA Apprenticeships QA Higher Education

Transcription

1 Your future. Apply within. QA Learning QA Apprenticeships QA Higher Education

2 The heart of QA is our people they are our greatest asset and the reason for our success. Contents An introduction from our CEO Our values Who we are Wish you worked here? Our venues and offices What s it like to work for...? Meet our people Benefits package Investing in you The recruitment process. What to do next? Back cover 2

3 One of us An introduction from our CEO Do you remember your favourite teacher at school? Mine was Ms Easterling, my history teacher. Not because she armed me with the knowledge to answer exam questions, not because she never put me on detention, she was my favourite because she was so enthusiastic and passionate for her subject. Her lessons were fun and even working through the more arcane details of the English Civil War didn t seem like learning. Well, at QA we have over 800 Mr & Ms Easterlings, all just as passionate and knowledgeable about their specialist areas be they in the classroom teaching, in the IT team supporting the business or sitting on the board and making decisions which drive the business forward. And how do we know this? Because our clients tell us: every customer survey and delegate feedback form rates the quality of our people. Their knowledge and their enthusiasm are consistently listed as the top reason for choosing QA. As one of the largest and most successful learning companies in the UK we have a lot to live up to, and it is our people that consistently enable us to deliver for our customers. We are a company made up of excellent individuals, all of whom are united by our brand ethos and values. We believe in treating our customers and each other as we would wish to be treated ourselves and our brand values service, integrity and commitment inform and influence everything we do. It is important to me that QA recruit people of the highest calibre at all levels. Our staff represent the future of this business, and our comprehensive recruitment process ensures that we only recruit the very best. So if the best is you apply within. William Macpherson Chief Executive, QA Ltd 3

4 Our values QA is a company with values. Service, Integrity and Commitment are the values all of our employees live by to help drive our unique business culture and consistently deliver an excellent level of customer service to our clients. Quality is at the heart of everything we do at QA and our values reflect this. If you share our values, can make things happen and are a people-person, you ll find QA to be an ideal environment for your ideas and enthusiasm. Our Brand Values 1. Service We are professional We share knowledge and expertise We re evolving/always learning 2. Integrity We keep our promises We listen with care We build strong relationships 3. Commitment We take end-to-end ownership We do right by our customers We go beyond the call of duty 4

5 Who we are QA is an established learning services provider with over 30 years experience in the learning and development industry. The QA Group is made up of 3 separate divisions QA Learning, QA Apprenticeships and the QA Higher Education - each of which offer a range of different career opportunities and exciting roles. QA Apprenticeships QA Apprenticeships operates an Advanced Apprenticeship programme to help 16 to 18 year olds start their career in IT. Our apprenticeships cover a range of roles in the IT industry from support, developer, project management, administration and sales. As well as apprenticeship programmes for school and college leavers we also offer higher apprenticeships, which are the equivalent of a foundation degree level programme. The QA Apprenticeship programmes are developed around employer and learner needs to ensure the programmes are highly industry relevant. All of our government-funded apprenticeship programmes are work-based, which enables organisations to gain more productivity from apprentices who work and so earn while they are learning. The Apprenticeships programme now accommodates over 400 apprentices, providing work placements with more than 300 businesses. QA Higher Education QA Higher Education, provides high quality Higher Education programmes to a culturally and internationally diverse range of candidates. All of our programmes provide an education of the highest quality that is focused on ensuring students have a fulfilling, demanding and intellectually stimulating experience, which will prepare them for the business world. QA Higher Education offers a range of courses through our partnership with the University of Ulster. QA Learning QA Learning provides the most complete range of training courses and learning services available in the UK. Our training courses span six main areas; Technical IT, Business Applications, Business Systems Analysis & Design, Programme & Project Management, Service Management, Leadership & Management and Business Skills. In addition to our public schedule of over 1,500 classroom-based courses, QA Learning also offers world-class delivery across virtual, mobile and e-learning modalities. Last year, the QA Learning division delivered 36,500 training events to over 232,000 delegates across the UK and was listed as the number one IT training company by The Learning & Performance Institute (LPI). 5

6 Wish you worked here? Where you work is important to how you feel and ultimately how you perform in your role. Productive, comfortable office spaces all over the UK Aberdeen Birmingham Bournemouth Bristol Cheltenham Dublin (2 centres) Edinburgh Exeter Glasgow Hinckley Leeds (2 centres) London (6 centres) Manchester Milton Keynes Newcastle Reading Slough Stockport Swindon That is why all QA offices and venues are equipped to a high standard. From training rooms to the back office, right the way through to the lecture halls and reception areas every aspect of the QA working environment is designed to help you to be comfortable and to fuel your productivity. QA has offices and venues all over the UK. Here is a snapshot of some of our venues to give you a sense of the type of environment you could be working in. London International House, St Katherine s Docks Situated in the heart of London, International House is a purpose built, state-of-the-art training centre and, is the primary London venue for the delivery of QA Learning s public courses. International House accommodates a large team of QA employees from instructors who come to train delegates in one of the 33 spacious training rooms, operations staff who run the centre and back office staff who use it as their base. As the UK s largest training provider we understand the importance of creating the right environment to facilitate learning and have designed our International House centre with this in mind. International House provides: 33 spacious and air conditioned training rooms, including 12 specifically designed IT technical rooms. A conference suite for up to 100 delegates Fully equipped delegate breakout areas On-site café View from International House, London 6

7 Slough - QA Head Office QA s head office is in Slough and is one of our biggest venues, providing the base for QA Leaning s southern sales and scheduling teams as well as a large proportion of the QA Apprenticeship team. Situated on the Uxbridge Road, the Slough office is easily accessible from the M4, M25 and M40. Slough station is just a 5 minute walk away, offering great transport links in and out of London Paddington and Reading. Birmingham QA operates out of 2 separate venues in Birmingham. Firstly there is the Higher Education s campus at the University of Ulster which is a state-of-theart purpose-built teaching facility in the heart of Birmingham. Higher Education students and staff alike benefit from the city-centre location ideal for study trips and work placements. The Birmingham-based QA Learning team is also based in the centre of the city, on Hill Street, near New Street train station. The Birmingham centre is both an office and a training facility with high quality training rooms and an open-plan office space. 7

8 What s it like to work at QA Apprenticeships? Lorette Parker Service Delivery Manager What do you do? I am QA s Service Delivery Manager and manage a portfolio of large corporate clients who have an ambition to design, develop and grow apprenticeship programmes within their organisations. My role is to work with the client and our delivery team here at QA to ensure the best fit personalised service for that client. We have a range of bespoke apprenticeship programmes, designed and delivered for the organisations we work with. What is the best thing about working at QA? The best thing about working at QA for me is the team I am surrounded by and the passion and vision of the Director who leads this business. We have such a positive workforce here at QA who genuinely care about what they do, live the QA culture and strive for high quality provision. Joined QA... What is the best thing about working at QA? I would really recommend joining QA based on my experience of the organisation. If you want to grow your career in a company that identifies and considers your strengths, then this is the company for you. I have been able to develop my career substantially within QA in direct correlation with the hard work and willingness to go that extra mile in everything I do. I feel proud of what we deliver at QA and truly believe there is nobody else in the market that can do it better than us. Previous role... Head of Careers at a large secondary school and sixth form college 8

9 Neelam Hussain Regional Resourcer What do you do? I provide opportunities for young people who are looking to work whilst also gaining much needed qualifications. I specifically resource for our Kent region - finding young people suitable apprenticeship programmes. I help to find these individuals roles within a variety of different fields including IT, Business, Sales and Project Management on month apprenticeship programmes. What would you tell someone who was thinking about coming to work for QA? QA offer a great support network for personal and professional development which is important for everyone working in a professional environment. The company runs a brilliant project management training programme, and as an employee I have had the opportunity to attend this training - which I know will help me for years to come. Average length of the apprenticeship programmes I place people on: onths onths What is the best thing about working at QA? The best thing about working for QA is the vast amount of experience I have gained through working with various teams and highly reputable clients. This has given me the opportunity to build a strong foundation and understanding of my role and the service we provide. % of apprentices in full time jobs after completing their QA Apprenticeship: QA is... I get to work with young, enthusiastic people - changing their lives for the better. 9

10 What s it like to work at QA Higher Education? Farha Patel Student Welfare Officer What do you do? I work as part of the Student Welfare and Relations team at the QA Higher Education s London campus. My role is to provide pastoral support and advice to our students on a range of issues including (but not limited to!) accommodation, problems at home, careers, employability and financial advice, as well as counselling and disability support. I offer a service which is tailored to students needs. What is the best thing about working at QA? I love the interaction with students! I am a people person and get a real sense of accomplishment when I know the support that I give helps students in their time of need. Just seeing the smile on their faces after securing an interview or a job following a CV review session with me is so rewarding! Why did you decide to come to work for QA? I had just graduated from University when a friend saw a Student Services Administrator position advertised by QA Higher Education. I instantly liked the fact that the business had only just been established and I knew it would provide me with the opportunity to put my strong people skills to great use and really put my ideas into practise. To this day my colleague Danyella and I call ourselves The Makers of the Student Services department of QA Higher Education! We re like one big family. The working environment at QA is really enjoyable and the fact that each day is different is an added bonus! Life at QA Length of service I ve worked for QA Higher Education for early 2 years 10

11 Tim Morgan Senior International Recruitment Advisor What do you do? My role is to recruit students onto courses run by QA Higher Education in partnership with the University of Ulster. It is a role that encompasses both sales and marketing and I target international non-eu students who are already studying in the UK. I recruit from any country, bar China which has its own dedicated team. In essence my role is to advise students, selling the benefits of the course and the University whilst hitting those all-important targets. A typical day at QA A cup of coffee will normally spring me into life and it s on with the day - and what a day it invariably is! I liaise with a number of educational agencies (imagine a recruitment agency but they forward potential students rather than potential employees) - these agencies are fantastic at providing students, I negotiate contracts with them, set targets and gather feedback. I also help to manage any online or phone enquiries which come in. What is the best thing about working for QA? QA has given me the chance to make my mark and see real results from the work I put in. I was looking for a career that was stimulating, challenging and rewarding. I have certainly got it here. Where do you recruit students from? Describe your team I recruit students from all around the world, from Afghanistan to Tanzania via Myanmar! fun 11

12 What s it like to work at QA Learning? Hannah McIndeor Public Sector Sales Executive There is a really strong team ethos at QA, everyone celebrates each other s successes which is a great boost for morale, and contributes to making it a fun place to work. What do you do? I am a Sales Executive within the Public Sector sales team and so most of my day is spent directly engaging with clients. First thing in the morning I will work through my s, ensuring any delegates I have booked onto courses that day are all present and correct. After this I will spend most of my time on the phone to clients, discussing their training needs and potential solutions we can provide for them. As well as these requirement-based conversations, a big part of my role is about building and maintaining a relationship with each of my clients. This is really important as it enables me to be consultative, rather than transactional it also makes my job more enjoyable and rewarding. As well as Account Management, I also work on bringing in New Business. This is an important part of the growth of QA and is an element of everyone s role here. 3 most important factors when looking for my graduate job 1. Career support & development 2. The opportunity for progression 3. Training and support No. of training sessions since starting Too many to count! I have a training session with either the sales coach or my line manager every other week. Why did you decide to come to work for QA? Initially, a role in Sales wasn t on my radar - like many others, I was influenced by the bad press that can be associated with Sales. However, on hearing about the QA role and having researched the company I was won over by the completely customer service driven approach and the idea of a new and challenging environment. As well as the challenging nature of the role, it offers progression and a clear career path making it an ideal starting point for me. What would you tell someone who was thinking about coming to work for QA? I would encourage them wholeheartedly. Even if they are unsure of what direction they want their career to go in, working for QA develops such a wide range of vital skills, it would provide a solid foundation for any career. QA is a very successful company, which is constantly growing and improving, this makes it a perfect working environment. Employees are valued here, success is rewarded and progression is available to those who earn it. For someone who has a drive to succeed and is prepared to work hard, I would definitely recommend applying to QA. The best thing about working for QA The people around me. 12

13 Scott Hayes Principal Technologist and Trainer - Apple What do you do? As QA s Principal Technologist for Apple training I spend a great deal of time making sure QA is up to date with Apple s official curriculum. I look at ways to grow our training offering, and work with Apple to promote QA as well as giving advice to sales about our Apple offerings. I am also a technical instructor so I spend a lot of time in the classroom teaching Apple and Microsoft technical courses. What would you tell someone who was thinking about coming to work for QA? You ll work hard, you ll be expected to work on your own for the vast majority of the time, but if you love training and technology, there is no better place to work. You ll also get to meet some world s leading experts in their field who will love sharing their knowledge with you. Oh and you ll meet loads of amazing people who make everything run as smoothly as possible so your life in the classroom is all about training the delegates. My job is the perfect role for a self-confessed geek. I get paid to keep on top of all the latest happenings in the information technology world and then I get to tell lots of people about it! Describe life at QA in 3 words Busy, interesting, fun. Number of years at QA What I m working on right now: Average number of delegates taught each year A presentation to sales explaining the developments in our Apple courses 13

14 Benefits package 3% We reward our employees hard work and dedication with a competitive benefits package. Pension scheme Your long-term future matters to us. That s why we have a competitive pension scheme which we contribute 3% of your basic salary to. Life Assurance We offer all employees a Life Assurance benefit of four times your basic salary. Essentially this is a free life insurance-type policy which means that should you die, we will pay your beneficiary four times your basic salary. Holidays We know that in order to work hard, you need time to rest and refuel that s why we offer a generous holiday allowance of 25 days increasing to 28 days after 5 years service. Charity leave Employees can request 2 days per year charity leave to perform charity work for a registered charity, these 2 days are offered at full pay. QA will also double any sponsorship money raised up to the value of 250. Gym discounts and cycle scheme With discounted gym membership rates for Fitness First and LA Fitness, in addition to a cycle to work scheme, we help you to be healthy employees (if you want to be!) $ Season ticket loans Travel can be expensive, so we offer interest free season ticket loans up to the value of 4,999 to help with up-front public transport tickets, following successful completion of your probation period. 14

15 Investing in you We practise what we preach and believe in investing in the future of all of our employees through training and ongoing career support Training As a training company we are passionate about the power of learning and development and so we offer all of our employees 3 training days a year. Manager Review Meetings QA managers all run regular review meetings with their team members. These provide the perfect opportunity to discuss positive feedback and areas for employee progression or development. They also provide a perfect forum for employees to raise any issues or concerns, so they can be swiftly addressed and rectified. Annual Appraisals QA operates an annual Appraisal procedure. In this Appraisal, employees are able to discuss achievements, performance against objectives and bring up any training and development requirements. 15

16 The recruitment process. What to do next? 1 Step One: Visit qa.com/careers Where you can find out more about working at QA. 2 Step Two: Search for vacancies. Our list of vacancies is updated every day, so you can browse an up-to-the-minute list of career opportunities. 3 Step Three: Apply online. You can apply for vacancies online. Just follow the instructions on the job spec page. 4 Step Four: Or your CV to careers@qa.com Not found what you are looking for? We are always on the lookout for enthusiastic and hard-working individuals, so if there isn t a job listed which suits you then please don t be put off. Send over your CV to careers@qa.com. QA Ltd Rath House, Uxbridge Road, Slough SL1 1SG careers@qa.com 2013 QA Limited. All third party trademark rights acknowledged.