An Aberdeen-based payroll management specialist with a new training academy has told the Press and Journal to count it in for the Apprentice 100 campaign.
Activpayoll, which provides services for more than 1,000 companies across 120 countries, currently has about a dozen trainees working towards certification at its office in Cults.
The company will now recruit two more apprentices in the north-east as part of a mission to create a century of new jobs in just a few months.
Activpayroll’s academy, which was launched earlier this year, gives trainees the chance to receive on-the-job training and earn certification from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals.
HR business partner, Sandra Sommerville, spearheaded the initiative after finding there was no formal apprenticeship framework for payroll in Scotland when she joined the firm in March 2014.
A framework has since been drawn up and will be on offer at the academy from March next year, she said.
Ms Sommerville said the company is targeting local youngsters for the roles, adding they should have a passion for numbers and accounts.
Kyle Shand joined Activpayroll as a trainee in April even though he did not have an educational background in the field.
A politics and sociology graduate, Mr Shand said the job was hugely challenging at first, but that he has come on leaps and bounds in the last few months.
The 23-year-old said: “I have learned a lot about numeracy and how tax works. It means I can now look at my own payslip and understand what everything means.
“I’ve also leaned customer handling skills, which are an important part of this job.”
Fellow trainee Nellija Lincika said the training she has received has taken the sting out of what she feared would be a complicated job.
Ms Lincika, who worked as an accounts manager in Latvia before moving to Scotland six years ago, added: “I like my colleagues. They’re really friendly and that’s the main thing for me.”
To apply to become a payroll apprentice, send a CV to recruitment@activpayroll.com