Applications now open for GTI’s apprentice accountancy course

Local students have been encouraged to consider a national accounting technician apprenticeship programme available at Galway Technical Institute which will create 20 jobs in the area this year and 150 positions nationally.

The accounting technician apprenticeship is a funded, work-based learning programme that sees apprentices earn at least €19,700 a year.

Leaving Certificate students and mature learners can apply for the programme through Accounting Technicians Ireland.

Galway Science graduate and first-year Grant Thornton apprentice, Diarmuid O’Connor (24), from Kilconly, stressed the importance of the practical nature of the accounting technician apprenticeship.

“University had shown me how an overload of theory can demotivate, so I decided that doing accounting exams alone might not be for me,” he said.

“Learning while gaining industry experience is my perfect combination.

“Students can get a real culture shock moving from second-level to third-level, often with limited experience of the real world.

“There is no harm in taking the road less travelled – a lot of people leave secondary school and third-level having been quite sheltered in terms of life experience.”

Grant Thornton Managing Partner Michael McAteer’s own accountancy career began with evening classes organised by Accounting Technicians Ireland.

He said the programme is a win-win for the employer and the accounting technician apprentice, allowing firms to broaden their client offering and provide excellent career prospects for students.

The accounting technician apprenticeship provides a real alternative for Leaving Certificate students who prefer practical training to a full-time college programme, or for students who may have embarked on a college course and found it didn’t suit them.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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