Max Palmer joined Comserv as an Electrical Apprentice. He completed his NVQ Level 3 in Electrotechnical Installation in May 2024. We sat down with Max to discuss the story of his Apprenticeship journey with Comserv.

From School to Apprenticeship

Max left school with his GCSE’s and went to college to study BTEC’s in Criminal Investigation Forensics. Whilst Max passed these it helped him to decide that a desk job was not for him and that he wanted to do something practical instead.

Max took a summer job doing fencing which he really enjoyed. He appreciated being in a different place each day and the physical work. He also found he enjoyed speaking to people.

He decided he wanted to learn a trade and began applying for Apprenticeships. At this stage, Max wasn’t sure which Apprenticeship he wanted to do. He considered Carpentry and Gas but then decided that Electrical was the ‘coolest of the lot’.

Max applied to Comserv at the end of the Summer, he was interviewed in the Autumn, and joined us as an Apprentice at the end of October 2019.

Three Year Apprenticeship

The Electrical Apprenticeship is typically a three year course. Max started with Eastleigh College, but after three months the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country forcing all onsite learning to stop. This greatly impacted his first year with tuition taking place online via Teams, and exams at the end of the year being taken in small groups of 5 sat two metres apart and wearing masks. Alongside this he was still going into tenant’s homes accompanying qualified Electricians and starting to learn the trade. During this year Max said he feared ‘getting it wrong’, but soon realised he was always supported by a qualified electrician and thrived on the variety of the work which kept him interested.

In the second year Max completed all of his college work assessments and passed them all. He found the classroom learning really well-structured. Eastleigh college run their Apprenticeship learning in one week blocks (although there is also the option for day release). So on a Monday the topic for the week would be discussed, followed by practical’s on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with an exam on Friday. This format suited Max and meant he was flying through his exams and passing them all. On the weeks in between Max was out with Electricians learning the trade onsite.

For the third year the Electrical Apprenticeship is carried out completely in the work. Max had to take lots of photos for his work portfolio, and the training agency would come out to visit Max and assess his work onsite.

Max found both the college and Comserv really supportive throughout his Apprenticeship. If ever he had any questions he could ask any one of the Electrical team and they would help him.

Practical and Social Skills

Alongside learning his trade, Max found his other skills developed including:

• Time Management - he had to learn how to manage his time and estimate the length of time a task will take
• People Skills – each job brings a new tenant and Max learned how to speak to people in different scenarios and environments. This sometimes included explaining why additional work cannot be done (if it’s a task outside of our scope of service) or calling the office to arrange for follow up work to be booked in
• Maintain a Tidy Work Area – when dealing with electrics this is vital for staying safe and keeping the tenant safe whilst working in their home
• Problem Solving – figuring out the issue and how he’s going to repair it is a major part of Max’s role

Working with other Operatives

Max finds working with Operatives from other trades really beneficial. When he goes to help with the electrics for a wet room or a kitchen the Operatives help each other out. They are there to work together and it’s a good supportive working environment. Equally the Electrical team are a very helpful group who all support one another.

There was one point during Max’s Apprenticeship where he found he was going out with the same person and to the same type of repairs frequently. He was concerned that once he was out on jobs on his own, he wouldn’t have the broad experience that he needed. He spoke with his Manager to say he needed to do more variety of work and this was changed straight away to keep Max on track with his learning.

At one point, the Electrical Manager placed all of the Apprentices onto a project site for 8 weeks. This enabled them all to learn metal conduit installations whilst being overseen by one of our site Electricians. Max was grateful that the Manager ‘took a chance’ on them and found it lots of fun learning in a very different environment to usual.

Recommending an Apprenticeship

We asked Max if he would recommend an Apprenticeship to either a school leaver or to someone who is considering a career change? He replied:

What Next

Since completing his Apprenticeship Max has joined the Out Of Hours team. He absolutely loves this work even with some long days. The work can be completely different from the day-to-day repairs with very different people. There’s also the aspect that you turn up and you’re a bit of a ‘hero’ as it’s an emergency, sometimes for very elderly people who have no one else to ask for help.

In October 2024 Max won the Advanced Apprentice of the Year at The News & Chichester Observer Apprenticeship Awards. He attended the Awards Ceremony at the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel, supported by his Supervisor and Managers. Richard Cooper, Comserv Group Executive Manager said: