EPCC employee becomes a Graduate Level Apprentice

10 November 2017

The skills gap in the IT, digital and cybersecurity industries in Scotland is widening with many employers, including EPCC, finding that both new and existing staff lack technical, practical or job specific skills.

To help bridge this gap, Edinburgh Napier University’s School of Computing has received funding from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to develop and deliver new work-based Graduate Level Apprenticeship (GLA) courses.

GLAs provide a development pathway for individuals to attain the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies required by employers. There is no upper age limit for entry and courses are open to new staff or existing employees looking to develop their career. The available Graduate Level Apprenticeship courses are:

  • BSc (Hons) Software Development
  • BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business
  • BEng (Hons) Cybersecurity

We are delighted to be participating in the GLA scheme as it will contribute to the success of EPCC and enable us to retain top talent by supporting and investing in career development.

Emilio Perez, an HPC Systems Administrator at EPCC’s Advanced Computing Facility (ACF), started a four-year BEng (Hons) in Cybersecurity this September. He says: “I believe the GLA is a great way to study for a degree as it is fully tailored to the limited availability of a full-time employee like myself. The lectures that normal students attend during the week are adapted for GLA students so they all take place on the same day. The fact that GLA students have a day off work every week for the first two years and once a month for years 3 and 4 to attend lectures is also key as it allows us to dedicate the time that a degree requires.

“One of the main reasons I decided to do the GLA is because my first degree is not an IT degree and I believe that getting a degree in IT will help me to consolidate my current knowledge, improve my background skills and my desire to specialise in Security. Due to my background in System Administration for the past 10 years and my Ethical Hacker certification I have been always attracted to the security side of System Administration and I think the Cybersecurity degree is an extraordinary opportunity for me to keep specialising in this area.

“It will also be very beneficial for the team at the ACF as maintaining the security of our systems and services is a vital part of our work, so the skills I will obtain from this degree will be very useful.”