Benefits and Career Prospects for PTs

The professional technician has a large skill set which combines theory, practice, knowledge, skills, facts, behaviour, hand and mind.

The Professional technician standard is welcome news for newly recruited technicians and existing people looking to up-skill. It provides a common system of registration, a professional development framework and branding which facilitates transfers of skills across the sectors. It additionally supports recruitment for businesses and individuals alike in helping them promote and navigating differing levels of expertise.

The professional technician standard has the potential to act as a useful recruitment and retention tool, helping grow the skills pool and giving employers a competitive edge. The framework responds to the increasing demand from employers for improved technical skills and is equally accessible to small and medium sized businesses, as well as large employers. This is essential when small businesses are currently employing 13 million employees and creating 65% of all new jobs in the UK.

Clear, alternative career pathway

The professional technician framework provides a viable alternative career choice to many of the young people wishing to avoid debt of university fees and for a significant proportion of the 64% of 18 year olds in the UK who do not go on to university. It combines work and study in employment, an opportunity to develop valuable and transferable skills and pursue a worthwhile alternative career, with clearly mapped out routes to progression. The Professional technician standard facilitates improved promotion and communications, enabling better informed choices for young people and the existing technicians in the workforce. It also offers potential for increased earnings at earlier age and improved wage and social mobility.