Young guns seek top jobs

Young guns seek top jobs Simon MacLellan, a 24-year-old aquaculture trainee working for Marine Harvest who also won last year’s Lantra Scotland Aquaculture Learner of the Year Award, believes that the Modern Apprenticeship programme is helping talented fish farm workers work towards management careers. With new Government targets for Scottish salmon production to increase to 210,000 tonnes and shellfish to 13,000 tonnes by 2020, there are increasing career opportunities for school leavers and college graduates looking for a challenging and highly skilled occupation. The introduction of new talent into the sector has been spearheaded by the success of the Scottish Government’s Modern Apprenticeship programme, which provides a route into work for young people and access to new talent for employers. The programme offers a unique mix of college-based learning and practical, on-the-job training, which gives young people all the theoretical and practical skill sets that they need to succeed in their chosen careers. Aquaculture trainee Simon MacLellan is working at Marine Harvest’s Ardmore Hatchery, whilst undertaking the theoretical part of his Modern Apprenticeship Level 3 at Inverness College. Simon said: “I chose aquaculture because I can see this is an industry that is only going to grow. Thankfully, as a society, we have come to realise that commercial fishing is unsustainable, and with only 2% of the world’s oceans farmed, this represents a big opportunity for us all. It is very satisfying to be part of an industry that is geared towards sustainable fish production and I believe being part of the Modern Apprenticeship programme has given me the ideal start to my career.” Lynn MacFarlane, Training and Human Resources Officer at Marine Harvest, said: “We have found that doing the SVQ alongside working on the farm is an effective combination for gaining knowledge and learning skills. Simon’s success as the Aquaculture Learner of the Year 2013 is a great inspiration for all our SVQ students. We have another employee, Jake Handley, who won Student of the Year for SVQ Aquaculture at Inverness College UHI earlier this year. So we are extremely pleased with how well staff are doing.”