Celebrating National Apprenticeship week

The theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship week is ‘Build the Future’, and at Dataplan we are big believers in this mantra. Through initiatives such as ‘Growing our own’ , and importantly, through apprenticeships.

We’re lucky enough to have gained some exceptional talent as a result of apprentices who have worked their way up through the company to senior positions.

Apprenticeships are typically seen as an alternative route to university for those fresh out of education, whilst true, this is not the sole purpose. Apprenticeships can offer a viable route to alter the direction of your career at any stage in your life; whilst not a full step back into education which can affect you financially, you are still paid a salary for your time learning on the job.

As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is of course unprecedented collateral damage to the job market, and as we work to get the economy back on its feet, apprenticeships have the potential to play a key part in this as a helping hand back onto the career ladder, retraining those who have been unfortunate enough to lose their position.

My personal apprenticeship story

As someone who has been through the apprenticeship process, completing an apprenticeship in Marketing after leaving school, the skillset it provided me with has been a fantastic basis to learn from and accelerate my career.

I knew whilst at school that I was keen to dive straight into the world of work, though of course I needed to further my education to gain a better understanding of my role and add value to myself through both personal and professional development.

I found the way the apprenticeship worked, with allocated time each week to complete assignments related to my on the job training was a great system and really encouraged me to take on a bigger workload and go above and beyond the requirements of my role.

With most Marketing positions being aimed at postgraduates, requiring you to have a degree in a relevant field, I don’t think I’d have come so far without the foundations my apprenticeship provided me with.

I would absolutely recommend an apprenticeship to anybody, whether coming out of education or wanting to change their career path further down the line. Earning whilst you learn is a great incentive. I personally believe it is crucial to have a good mix of education and on the job experience (with most entry level positions requiring experience still!).