Go Geothermal and Optimum Skills have joined forces to identify future talent in the renewable energy sector with a new partnership that involves offering work experience placements to young individuals aged 16-18, providing hands-on exposure to digital skills within Go Geothermal’s head office
As part of their course, the young people spend the first six weeks undertaking classroom-based learning in digital skills, covering everything from marketing basics, content creation, marketing strategies and website creation.
They then spend a further six weeks on a work placement, gaining hands-on experience within a proper business setting.
The students attended an open day at Go Geothermal’s head office
In Go Geothermal’s case, all nine students and two of their lecturers attended an open day at the renewable energy company’s newly opened head office and warehouse in Newton Aycliffe.
During their visit, they were given a tour of the facilities and learned more about the work of Go Geothermal, which was established in 2006.
Subsequently, two of the students, Joshua Sparrow and Daniel Brownsword, each spent two weeks working at Go Geothermal, where they undertook a variety of tasks, including analysing the current Go Geothermal website and the plans to introduce an online ordering function, product promotion, social media content and integration of AI.
Offering employment opportunities to local people
Joshua said: “It was a highly educational experience for me, and I learned a lot during my time at Go Geothermal.
“I was given lots to do in the two weeks, and I look forward to the possibility of working with Go Geothermal in the future.”
Sean Sowden, Go Geothermal’s Director, said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with Optimum Skills to provide work experience placements to students on the digital skills traineeship.
“Both Joshua and Daniel were fully involved, and made a valuable contribution, throughout their time with us and based on the success of this initiative, we are now hoping to be able offer full six-week placement to students in the future.
“Go Geothermal is always seeking to offer employment opportunities for local people, especially as demand for our renewable products continues to grow, and establishing links with training companies like Optimum Skills enables us to identify the possible employees of the future.”
‘Highlighting the impact that traineeships and apprenticeships can have on young people’
Charley Haigh, business development manager at Optimum Skills, said: “It is great to build partnerships with local organisations, Go Geothermal have kindly provided our learners the opportunity to visit their site and gain an understanding of the industry and what they do.
“There are some fantastic apprenticeship opportunities with Go Geothermal of which we have learners in the process of enrolling on. We want to thank the company for hosting the tour and supporting our learners with their career progression and we look forward to working closely with Go Geothermal in the future.
“We are looking to work with more businesses across the region to support more young people into meaningful opportunities and we hope this partnership with Go Geothermal will highlight the impact that traineeships and apprenticeships can have on young people.”
