Josh did a 12-week construction traineeship with DMR Training before progressing onto a joinery apprenticeship. Here he talks about the traineeship and how it helped him get started in the industry.

I first thought about becoming a joiner when I did woodwork at school. It’s pretty funny but during my year ten options, I accidentally picked woodwork instead of product design. But I really enjoyed working with my hands, using tools and building things from scratch, so I decided to continue with it.

After school, I spent a year looking for work and struggling for money. I applied for loads of jobs, but nobody got back to me. Eventually, the Job Centre referred me to DMR and I enrolled on their construction traineeship. The traineeship introduced me to many different construction trades such as plastering, painting & decorating and brickwork.

We started off with training sessions at DMR’s academy where we learnt basic construction skills and health & safety. I got on really well with the other lads on the course and the tutors were great too. They made the training interesting and fun. Even though they expected us to always give 100%, we were still able to have a laugh with them

After a couple of weeks, I was placed with a local building maintenance firm and got to develop my skills even further. Looking back, this was probably the most important part of the traineeship because I gained some real experience to add to my CV. When the traineeship finished, I went straight into a joinery apprenticeship with the same company.

I have absolutely no regrets about doing the traineeship and I enjoyed every second of it. As well as gaining loads of new skills, it gave me the chance to prove myself to my employer before I was taken on as an apprentice. I’m really happy that I had that opportunity. Now I’m earning money and working towards becoming a fully qualified joiner.

One day I’d like to have my own business but right now I’m just focusing on my apprenticeship.

Traineeships