My experience as an apprentice
Discover how my apprenticeship is shaping my career, providing valuable life lessons, and unlocking a path to success by letting me earn as I learn
I graduated with a law degree from the University of Liverpool in 2022, but I realised that I wasn't interested in pursuing that industry for my career. I knew I wanted to enter a more creative industry, but didn't have the right qualifications to make the jump. To help me filter through potential careers, I completed the 蘑菇视频黄片' Job Match Quiz, which returned matches for PR specialist, publisher and copywriter.
Why I chose to do an apprenticeship
The list of careers provided by Job Match prompted the idea to pursue work in digital marketing. Throughout my time at university I had been making music and art, and was considering turning these passions into a career, but I still lacked the know-how to turn that idea into reality.
While working as a sales assistant, I completed a few courses to upskill myself. These included an in-person course on videography, photography and online marketing and another online course on digital marketing and web design. Having developed relevant skills, I applied for various digital marketing roles but kept running into the same issue - a lack of experience. I had a crucial decision to make: continue applying in the hope someone accepted me, or seek experience elsewhere through more courses or volunteer work.
Following hours of job searching, I discovered the Content Creation Apprenticeship with Jisc. I jumped at the chance to apply, realising an apprenticeship could help get my foot in the door while teaching me the ins and outs of digital marketing and how it functions in an active business. It would also allow me to bridge the experience gap and earn alongside studying, giving me the chance to save money and fund my creative endeavours.
Discover more about what an apprenticeship is.
How I applied for my apprenticeship
I sent off my CV in an online application and within weeks, began the first of a two-stage interview process. This consisted of a group interview followed by a collaborative campaign planning task, based on a short brief provided in the interview. The second was a solo interview where I had to prepare a presentation on why I would make a great apprentice, alongside a ten-minute video to showcase my content creation skills. After a few nerve-racking days, I was delighted to receive a call inviting me onto the apprenticeship, and I started in September 2024.
Read all about how to apply for an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeship tasks and skills
My apprenticeship so far has been fun, varied, and challenging as I've been entrusted with lots of tasks and responsibilities. When I first joined, I was tasked with helping to manage the social media pages for the Future You podcast. This meant writing social media captions, posting content and managing any comments. I then took on the role of editing closed captions onto highlight reels and helping with the filming of content.
These experiences are helping me to develop skills that will be valuable in my career. Writing captions is developing my copywriting and online communication skills and showing me the importance of a consistent tone of voice and concise messaging. Being involved in managing a professional social media page has given me insight into how a company plans and conducts marketing campaigns, and has given me an understanding on the processes behind creating high-value content.
I've also been given the opportunity to develop skills, both behind and in front of the camera. An unforeseen benefit of working with 蘑菇视频黄片 is that I get to travel around the country working on various shoots. In November 2024 I went to Brighton and Sussex universities to both film and conduct some interviews with students. Though it was a daunting experience at first, I slowly grew more accustomed to presenting with confidence. I've really enjoyed editing these videos as it's given me space to improve my editing skills and to learn new things on my own such as fixing audio issues, navigating the reformatting of videos for socials and creatively editing around cuts when working with previously edited content.
Read more about what's involved in a marketing apprenticeship.
Advice for anyone considering an apprenticeship
- Time management is key - It's easy to focus on company work over apprenticeship learning or vice-versa, so you need to plan your time. My team uses Excel spreadsheets to show the social media posting schedule and this helps me know in what order something needs completing. I use Notion and Notion Calendar to help organise tasks and plot out my week.
- Try new things - I knew going into my apprenticeship that I wanted to film and edit videos, but I didn't plan on hosting or presenting. Nonetheless, I had fun and will continue to present more videos moving forward. You never know what aspects of your apprenticeship will surprise you, so don't shut off from new opportunities.
- Don't be scared to ask questions - Your colleagues are there to help you, and they'll actively want to help you, so make use of this. Ask for clarification on things you know you don't understand or are unsure about - there are no bad questions. It can also be good practice to briefly relay back new information so you and your colleagues know that you understand what's being asked of you.
Find out more
- Decide whether to go to university or do an apprenticeship.