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Changing Careers at 42 with an Apprenticeship at Arm

Beginning his career as a Software Engineering Apprentice

Meet Richard Quinn, a Software Engineering Apprentice at Arm. Richard is not who you think a typical apprentice would be: “I'm 42 with a wife and children and a mortgage so I'm not coming as an 18-year-old fresh out of school.” Before becoming an apprentice at Arm, he did a degree in chemistry in 1997, and had been working in social housing for the last 15 years so “writing scripts in Python is worlds apart from what I’m used to doing.”

But that hasn’t stopped him from achieving his dream of working in software: “I've always been interested in programming and everything related to technology and I always thought I wanted to do it as a career.” Richard had heard about apprenticeships but thought they were only for people aged 18-25, so when he found out he was eligible he was “over the moon.”

“I knew I had to apply for it straight away.”

Richard chose to join Arm as an apprentice because of Arm’s reputation in the tech community: “Arm is a very famous company and because I'm into everything relating to tech and listen to podcasts, they're discussed quite extensively within the tech community. When I saw it advertised, I knew I had to apply for it straight away.”

“They welcomed me with open arms.”

Working at Arm, Richard has learnt so much and it’s “everything that (he) hoped it would be.” With lockdown and schools closed, things have been different, but colleagues have all been understanding and managers have been very supportive of Richard. The highlight of working at Arm for him is the people: “they welcomed me with open arms, and I feel really at home here.”

His advice to anyone like him who are considering changing careers and starting an apprenticeship is that “there will never be a point in your life where it will be the perfect time so you just need to go for it.”

From Property Management to Software Engineering Apprentice

We spent time with Richard, who embarked on the Arm Apprentice Programme as part of a career change from Real Estate to Software Engineering - what a journey! Watch Richard's full interview.

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