when i left school apprenticeships were a thing of the past, and i did do my research when i left school for apprenticeships and alot of companies dropped there training schemes and it was only until i was half way through my course the government had wanted to jump start the apprenticeship schemes again. i may have been advised properly when i left school if any of the airlines had bothered to reply to any of my letters or emails, the only bit of external information i found was when i went to the RAF careers and they said they were one of the few people that offered apprenticeships then.
And also make no mistake, i am not naive, i have researched the in and outs of licensing and also have a cap 147 log book complete with signatures, and good references from numerous engineers and the company itself. Not bad for someone that works for free!!
The college course was all that was available to me at the time, so i had to do it rather the ignore my chosen career path, it wasnt a matter of starting off in the wrong way, it was a matter of starting off., dont you think i wish i had done an apprenticeship, otherwise i would have not have been in this situation.
also looking at Bodjit statement again he has highlighted my point
"no one is willing to train anyone."