NIAW2023: Niche Works for Ben Nesbitt in IT Industry

SERC partners with 750 employers to support more than 1,300 apprentices and enrolments for apprenticeships through the College in 22/23 have grown by 10% on the previous year. Working with industry, we continue to grow the skills range on offer through the apprenticeship route, from accountancy to pharmacy services.   Over the next week, we will be showcasing SERC apprentices, lecturers and employers as part of our NI Apprenticeship Week celebrations across the media, website and socials – so find out how the apprenticeship route can lead to a career in your chosen industry and plan to come along to our Have a Go Sessions 6 – 9 February.

The owner and director of ITNI and EPOSNI, niche businesses respectively specialising in IT support and electronic point of sale technology, is keen for students to think about the apprenticeship route if they want to pursue a career in IT, during NI Apprenticeship Week 6 – 10 February.

Ben Nesbitt (41), from Bangor, hails a part-time computing course at South Eastern Regional College (SERC) whilst studying for his A levels, as the motivator for moving into IT studies full-time.  He said, “The traditional route from school to university is still expected, but not everyone ends up working in a field that they enjoy. I was very lucky to have discovered IT whilst studying for my A Levels and, fortunately, was able to change my path and focus purely on computing.   I am not sure what I may have ended up doing after my A Levels at Bangor Grammar, if I hadn’t discovered my own IT interest or the flexibility of the courses offered through SERC.”

“Moving to SERC for the GNVQ Advanced IT allowed me to focus on what I wanted to study, and offered an alternative path onto university where I achieved a HND in Computing and a BSc in Computer Science at Ulster University.  I gained valuable work experience taking this route which included working for Oracle in Dublin - the second biggest software company in the world.” “College was great as we were treated like adults, we managed our own time and learning became enjoyable. We did lots of hands-on work which fuelled my interested in networking and systems analysis.”

The businessman is keen for people to progress into the sector.   He said, “I would highly recommend the industry as there are so many different fields. It is about finding out what interests you the most, but home learning and self-development is key in the early stages.”  

“The apprenticeship route is prefect for people coming into the industry. As the saying goes,  you can’t get a job without experience and you can’t get experience without a job.  Apprentices get a real job with real world experience, hands-on learning, and skills development by working on real life systems. They gain life-long transferable skills in general business, customer service, team work, problem solving, policies and procedures, all of which benefit them personally. At present, we have a Higher Level Apprentice employed with us, Kai Dawson, from Donaghadee who completes his studies at SERC.”  

He continued, “Businesses which involve apprentices support the growth and development of a valuable part of the team and it often leads to long term employment as both employer and employee will have a good idea about what it is like to work together.”

“We employ 10 staff between both ITNI and EPOSNI and I am a director in both. Day to day, I wear many hats: consultant, senior technician - sometimes junior technician! - delivery man, sales man, office manager, HR manager, marketing executive. I love seeing our companies grow and teams develop as we continue to deliver the high levels of service that we aim to provide our clients.”

Speaking about the challenges of the IT industry, Ben said, “In our industry, a big challenge is cyber security. Staying up to date on the latest viruses and phishing methods requires continual learning and personal development.  We are constantly testing various cloud based and on-site products to try to stay ahead of the fraudsters. In this industry, it is important to be driven and focused as technology moves so fast you could easily be left behind.”      

“Another challenge is staff retention - especially with the cost of living crises. It is a competitive market place and with platforms such LinkedIn, staff are constantly being contacted about jobs for which they haven’t applied. We are a relatively young, local, energetic, growing, flexible and ‘best foot forward’ company and, so far, have not had any issues attracting good quality talent.”

SERC are hosting Have a Go Sessions for potential apprentices 4.30pm to 7.00pm at Lisburn Campus - Monday 6 February; Bangor Campus -Tuesday 7 February; Newtownards Campus - Wednesday 8 February, and Downpatrick Campus - Thursday 9 February.