Cogent works in partnership with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) to deliver the scheme on behalf of employers and there are currently in excess of 500 technicians on the scheme. The annual recruitment demand is identified from the needs of the employers with figures gathered via an annual employer survey. Being a demand led process, aligned to the operational needs of the workplace, it means that most trainees can expect to get a job at the end of their 3.5 year apprenticeship.

The training consists of eighteen months’ college or training centre-based training followed by two years’ worksite training. During the second phase of the programme, trainees can expect to earn up to £20,000 per annum. There are also increasing potential overseas opportunities for former trainees as oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea also have international operations in countries such as Malaysia, China, Russia and the USA.

David Doig, Head of Cogent products and Services said: “Oil and gas operations are at the heart of the world economy. The industry helps to make the world go around. It creates and maintains vital installations, from power plants to factories, helping to underpin the international economy and all our lives.

“A career as an offshore oil and gas technican is exhilarating, tremendously self rewarding and offers an excellent lifestyle.”

For more information go to www.oilandgastechnicians.com