Benefits of Apprenticeships

So there comes a time in your life where you make the big choice. Do I go off and follow the crowd into University? or do I go into the wide world of work? Either way you choose its a huge choice in your life, and I am going to be speaking about the apprenticeship route as I am educated on this route having taken this myself. Before I start I just want to say that this isn't a post to directly say don't go to university, it is simply a post outlining some of the benefits which I have personally found from doing an apprenticeship.

Straight of the bat, you have to remember that an apprenticeship is an opportunity to get yourself into the world of work and actually prove your worth, which nowadays is incredibly difficult. With majority of jobs asking for x amount of years experience, which is near impossible to get, it becomes increasingly difficult to even get yourself seen anymore. Being on an apprenticeship gives you that opportunity to work in a specific sector, which for me is IT, and give you the experiences of working life. It allows you not only to take away experience, but also to take away a key network of people who are from a sector which is potentially what you wish to get into.

Apprenticeships are a great "foot in the door" job as though yes they start of small, so small salary and small, possibly inconvenient jobs, however it gives you a HUGE opportunity to show your unique skill set to professionals and show that you can apply your knowledge to the job. This is a common issue these days, that people have a lot of knowledge but do not actually know how they can apply it in a working role.

Not only is it working though but you are also learning along side the job. So for my apprenticeship, I have one day a week where I travel to an external place to study more about different areas of IT and get a BTEC qualification out of it.

Now I know many of you may still be in the bubble of "I want to go to university because it will open up a lot of job opportunities and give me a higher rate wage. But that's at least 3 years down the line and a whole lot of debt. Whereas in the meantime I could've potentially secured myself a full time job which I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere. Now I can agree that yes University does have its perks for people and for many may be worth it in the long run. But for the rest of us, it is definitely a good idea to look into the apprenticeship route and find out more on exactly what it involves.

Much like university, no two apprenticeships are the same, so you definitely need to look around for the one that suits your needs the most. Personally I went through a company called "Step Forward" who are part of a larger group called "The Challenge" who focus on helping younger people get out there and gain different experiences and remove the negative stigmas which surround the younger generation.

If you'd like to read up more on the facts and figures behind apprenticeships, then follow the link https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships

And finally just remember, there is nothing wrong with doing an apprenticeship. It doesn't make you any less of a person going to university. It just means that you have made an informed choice to choose a route that will benefit you a lot more than any other route would, thus doing the best for yourself.