North Kent College’s Industry Placement Scheme paying dividends

Nathan Herity, Level 2 Motor Vehicle student from North Kent College joined JB Smart, Welling on the College’s Industry Placement Scheme to gain experience within the automotive bodywork side of vehicles.  Nathan has now been offered a permanent role with the company following the work placement.

Director of J B Smart Jason Ball said: ” From the start Nathan has shown great potential and he has fitted in so well within the company. With every job that comes into the body shop there is always something new for Nathan to learn giving him a wide range of new skills that he may not have been able to learn at college.   We are pleased to announce that we have now officially welcomed Nathan as our first employee of JB Smart and look forward to working with North Kent College to take on more Industry placements in the future as the company grows.  I would highly recommend the Industry placement scheme as it gives young people the chance to gain valuable experience within the workplace and gain knowledge and possibly the chance of employment at the end of their work placement.”

Commenting on his new role Nathan said “I applied for my industry placement after attending the industry placement evening at North Kent College with my parents. During the evening I picked up a leaflet for JB Smart in Welling.  I am really enjoying the work and learning so much from Jason. Since finishing my Level 2 in June, I have been working full time and have been lucky enough to be offered a permanent position as a body shop assistant. 

I have gained experience in all types of body work using specialised tools and have started to learn different techniques when respraying body panels and wheels. I would like to thank Debbie Davey, Employer Relationship Officer at NKC and Jason and Kerry at JB Smart for giving me this opportunity.”

Debbie Davey commented ” I am so lucky as part of my job to be able to build up great working relationships with local businesses.  My students are aware that just because they are on an industry placement a permanent position is not guaranteed at the end but if they can prove themselves it is a brilliant opportunity for getting “your foot in the door”.  Well done Nathan well deserved. 

She went on to say “Our Industry Placement scheme is a fantastic way for our learners to become career-ready at the end of their course. They are expected to complete an Industry Placement of approximately 50 days over the academic year, where they apply their course knowledge into a work setting.”