3 Apprenticeships To Consider Kickstarting Your Career

Since 2020 and the pandemic the job market has changed dramatically, and many businesses have struggled whereas others haven’t been affected as much. The unemployment rate fell to 5% which is the lowest record to date, with over 750,000 jobs being lost as companies had to cut costs where they could.

The demographic for the younger generation was hit hard as school leavers and those after part time jobs struggled to get employed in areas such as hospitality and retail, which are the sectors which have been hit the hardest by the national lockdown. 

However, the job market seems to be getting back on track and most importantly apprentices are wanted even more now as this is a way of employers employing in more of a cost-effective way. An apprenticeship is an amazing way to kickstart your chosen career, within this article we will discuss the benefits of an apprenticeship to the apprentice and the employer and 3 top Gov approved apprenticeships to consider.

Benefits to becoming an apprentice

There are many benefits to becoming an apprentice, regardless of age and qualifications you can become an apprenticeship and be ahead of the game. Within apprenticeships you learn and progress with your career and even get paid at the same time, allowing the healthy balance of study as well as working. If you’re a hands-on person an apprenticeship is right for you and a great alternative to university where you will have your head in the books with no real-life experience. You also build upon the essential skills needed to advance in your career and receive a qualification at the end of completion and at least 1 years’ experience.

Since covid-19 apprenticeships have been the chosen route instead of the traditional path to university, this way you will not be getting into any debt and avoid learning over zoom calls which has been taking place since lockdowns, which was hard on most students as they never got to live the fun, proactive uni life.

Lastly, within the apprenticeship you can grow your network within your industry as you will be working alongside professionals, gaining that valuable experience. This is also a great way to expand your opportunities and open doors along the way. If you can prove that you are hardworking, determined and driven this will go a long way and people will remember you for that.  

Benefits of an apprentice to the employer

There are several reasons as to why employers would benefit from hiring an apprentice, as well as the financial incentives there are many other benefits including training the individual in a certain way to suit your business in the best way. Allowing a business to develop a new generation of workforce and to bring new, fresh ideas to the table.

IT & DIGITAL

The future is digital. Having good IT & digital skills will put you in a really good position and allow you to offer your help to keep modern day businesses, large and small to run effectively and profitably. Especially offering services to e-commerce retail companies to provide technological solutions to customers and staff.

There are many different career paths you can work towards within this industry including, software, system analytics, Cybersecurity and data analysis. One of the higher-level apprenticeships you can complete is a network engineer level 4, where the role includes to design, maintain, and support communication networks within organisations. The apprenticeships provide knowledge and training in network configuration, cloud and network administration, enabling a network engineer to give technical assistant and guidance.

This industry is great to get into currently as technology is becoming more advanced each year, and this is the area where most companies struggle the most and need to invest in a workforce which can support this, meaning there will never be a shortage of jobs within this industry.

AAT ACCOUNTANCY

Accounting apprenticeships are an effective route to a career within accountancy, an AAT qualification is very sought after and highly recognised in this industry as well as the high-quality experience you gain during the apprenticeship.

The main role of an assistant accountant is to provide support to internal and external customer, working within the financial function of the organisation. Day to day tasks include, data entry to month end management accounts, year end financial statements and the regulatory financial requirements.

A higher-level apprenticeship within this industry is the professional accountant/taxation technician, this job role involves creating and reviewing financial information performed to meet relevant ethical, professional, and legal standards.

The benefits to undertaking a AAT apprenticeship, will allow you to gain the real life experience and skills which are highly in demand by employers, making you capable to solving real world business issues. Also, this is a fast-track way to get into the industry and facilitates you with the knowledge and qualifications for the entry in further certificates.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Lastly, the last apprenticeship to consider to kickstart your career is leadership and management, this is a universal skill which will be effective in any industry and business which is why it is so desirable. Quality leadership ensures effective and efficient work practices within the business, including managing teams and how departments work in order to be efficient and to boost productivity.

Operations and Departmental Manager Level 5

The higher-level apprenticeship available is the operations and departmental manager level 5, this will include managing teams, responsibility for planning, delivering and achieving the business goals and responsible for the delivery of the organisation’s strategy.

There are many benefits to this industry, it provides a great opportunity to develop creative thinking, and your job role will lead to the development of culture within an organisation which can be very rewarding. Also, by you investing into the development of employees this can have a positive impact on the workplace and create a productive workforce, benefiting the business as a whole and creating a return on investment.

Overall, there are many benefits to becoming an apprentice and many different apprenticeships to consider to kickstart your career and allow you to develop high-quality real-life experience. Start your dream career now, there’s no better time than today. 

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So you’ve decided to do a government approved apprenticeship. You’ve weighed up all the options, found a career you want to step in to and believe that an apprenticeship is the perfect place to get started. It’s all well and good applying for apprenticeship roles in your chosen career, but what happens when you get to the interview stage?

Is this your first ever interview? Desperate not to mess it up? Want to present yourself in the best possible way and show your potential employer that you’re the right person for the job?

Well, you’ve come to the right place.

Here are seven of our most important tips that will help you present yourself in the best possible way in your interview!

1. Have a positive outlook

Having a positive outlook on the situation beforehand is vital. Feeling like you’re desperate to impress is normal, but its important to remember you wouldn’t have got the interview in the first place if they weren’t already impressed! Be confident, proud of how far you’ve come already and ready to shine. Going into your interview expecting to fail will often come across to your employer and mean you may well fail as you first believed!

2. Be Prepared to Feel Uncomfortable

Your potential employer will use the interview to test you. The whole point of the interview is to help them realise if you are right for the job or not. To do this, they may put you under pressure, ask difficult questions and sometimes, unintentionally make you feel uncomfortable. One way to be prepared for the questions that you may need to answer, as well as impressing your interviewer, is to do your research on the company beforehand. Have a look at their website, their services or products, any brochures, reviews or competitors and be prepared to use this information to back up any answers you put forward.

3. Ask Questions

Show an interest in the company and the position you have applied for. What are the training opportunities or progression within the company? Engage with your interviewer. Don't just ask what the holidays are. Use questions find out more about the role and the company. The more questions you ask, the more impressed they will be.

4. Stand Out

Chances are, you’re not the only candidate. Well, be different. Chances also are, that just by being yourself, you’ll be different. No, don’t put yourself down, you are unique!

However, there’s one thing being unique and theres another showing it to your interviewer. To do this, try talking about your hobbies and interests. What are the things you enjoy? What are the things you care about? Maybe you have a passion art or painting? Well, take your portfolio! Even if it isn’t directly supportive of the job role you’re applying for, being memorable and impressive can help swing a decision in your favour.

5. First Impressions Count!

Even in a world of Zoom interviews, make sure you are wearing something presentable and appropriate for the interview is vital! For example, track suit bottoms or trainers are not suitable attire, even if your employer specifies that the interview is informal. Wearing something smart will certainly tick boxes for your future employer. However, try and gage the room. Sometimes, a smart shirt will do. There’s no need to go full waste coat and tie if you don’t believe the job requires it. Despite this, it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed, so lean on the side of caution.

6. Be Polite

From minute one, be polite. Companies invest in people, not just roles. Even if someone seems to be able to do the job better than you, chances are your employee wont hire them if they are rude. In your interview, make sure to always be polite, have good manners and care about what the interviewer is saying. Manners can tell a lot about a person especially if the role is customer based or involves building relationships.

7. Learn from the interview, even if you don’t get the job.

Due to their entry level nature, an apprenticeship interview is often one of the first interviews that people have. Learn from everything. What did you do well, what did you do badly? It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it, even if it might feel like the end of the world. Ask yourself why you didn’t get it. Did you ask enough questions? Did you do enough research around the company? Did you have the right skills for the job? If you don't get the job remember you know how difficult they are, where you went wrong and where you can improve for next time!

Guest Blog: MR SEO Case study

Author Bio: Michael is the founder and director of MR.SEO, and has worked in digital marketing for over a decade.  

After gaining experience across digital PR and content marketing, Michael decided to focus his career on search engine optimisation (SEO), where he managed projects for some of the UK’s largest ecommerce retailers in an agency environment. He later went in-house for the UK’s fastest-growing travel agency, helping maximise growth across SEO and conversion rate optimisation (CRO). His passion for all things digital saw him embark upon his own journey in 2019 when he founded his own digital marketing agency.

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