SEAT A new term is beginning at the SEAT Apprentice School with the arrival in September of 60 new students, who have been selected among more than 800 applications received from all over Spain. The 60 young talents who met the selection criteria will begin the first course of the two middle grade training cycles with 30 students registered in the machining module and the other 30 in the Electromechanical Maintenance of Installations module. In total, the School currently has 168 apprentices.
According to SEAT Training administrator Laura Carnicero, “the success of the School’s dual Vocational Training programme lies in the opportunity that young people have to learn a trade, develop it in a real-world work environment and ultimately join the workforce with an open-ended contract when they finish their training programme”. “We offer a complete, practical classroom, laboratory and workshop programme in the School as well as in various areas of the company. The high technical level of the facilities and instructors is a great incentive that makes young talent all over the country eager to be a part of the School, like two of this year’s successful applicants, who come from Jaén and Ávila”, adds Carnicero.
SEAT’s commitment to young talent and the excellent qualifications of its professionals are a testament to the nearly 60 years of history of the Apprentice School. “Since 1957, when it first opened, more than 2,600 students have received training at the School. It’s important to highlight that 11% of the company’s current executives completed studies at the Apprentice School. These figures support the effectiveness of the training strategy promoted by SEAT”, explains SEAT Vice-president for Human Resources Xavier Ros.
Dual Vocational Training, a model of success
The SEAT Apprentice School is a training benchmark in Spain. In 2012 the company pioneered the introduction of the dual Vocational Training System, which is based on the German model. SEAT’s training system offers more than twice as many hours of theoretical, practical and on-the-job training as other similar initiatives, and the high number of applications it receives every year attests to how successful it is.
The syllabus comprises 4,625 hours spread over three years, with students signing a labour contract for training and apprenticeship which enables them to make contributions to Social Security as well as being provided with monthly remuneration based on the practical work performed in the company. In addition, all the training costs are paid for by the company.
