Is an apprenticeship right for me?

Katie Thistleton

Hello, welcome to the BBC Bitesize Careers Podcast. I'm Katie Thistleton and there are loads of options available to you when you leave school, whether that's Higher Education, A-levels or a more vocational route. But today we're going to be exploring the massive world of apprenticeships. We're going to find out what they are and whether they could be a good fit for you.

And helping me do that today is our careers coach, Mark Anderson, an award winning careers coach no less. Hello, Mark.

Mark Anderson

Hi, Katie.

Katie Thistleton

I'm also joined by the wonderful Jasmine Shum. Jasmine is currently doing an apprenticeship. Can you explain to us what your job is?

Jasmine Shum

I'm currently a Level 4 marketing apprentice at Amazon and that means that I probably spend about 80% of my time with my employer working on the job and then I have 20% of my time dedicated to learning and studying towards my qualification. So, I help devise some of the strategies that go up on the [Prime Video] store, like the carousels that you'll see. So, users will recommend their favourite shows and then it will get put into a carousel that goes on the storefront.

Katie Thistleton

Well, we're going to chat a lot more about your apprenticeship and find out more about that. But first, I want to play a little game to find out how much you actually know about apprenticeships. Jasmine, are you ready for this?

Jasmine Shum

Yes.

Katie Thistleton

Well, there are so many apprenticeships, so we're going to have a little game of real or fake. Now I'm going to read out a job title and I want you to tell me if that's a real apprenticeship or a fake apprenticeship.

Katie Thistleton

You ready, Jasmine?

Jasmine Shum

Yes.

Katie Thistleton

Hairdresser.

Jasmine Shum

Real.

Katie Thistleton

You're correct. Photographer. Is that real or fake?

Jasmine Shum

I'm going to go with real.

Katie Thistleton

Yes. Dental nurse.

Jasmine Shum

Fake.

Katie Thistleton

No, you're wrong. It is an apprenticeship. Pharmacy assistant.

Jasmine Shum

Real.

Katie Thistleton

Correct. Golf greenskeeper.

Jasmine Shum

Fake.

Katie Thistleton

No, it's real. Veterinary nurse.

Jasmine Shum

Real.

Katie Thistleton

Yes. Sewing machinist?

Jasmine Shum

Real.

Katie Thistleton

Yes. Train driver.

Jasmine Shum

Real?

Katie Thistleton

Yes. Upholsterer.

Jasmine Shum

Real.

Katie Thistleton

Yes. Butcher.

Jasmine Shum

Real.

Katie Thistleton

Yes. You may have noticed something going on here, Jasmine. It's a little bit of a trick. They're all real.

Katie Thistleton

These are all real apprenticeships because we really wanted to show just how many there are and how much variety there is. So also on this list, these are real apprenticeships. I've got air traffic controller, organ builder, hearing aid dispenser, space engineering technician. I wouldn't have known that there were that many different types of apprenticeships in the UK. Mark, are a lot of people surprised when they find that out? Do a lot of people not really know that there are that many options available to them?

Mark Anderson

Well, I think people's perceptions are that apprenticeships are just about manual labour, motor mechanics and things like that. But there's such a wide range of different types of apprenticeships that you can do now, even up to degree level.

Katie Thistleton

Who might be best suited to an apprenticeship, who are they good for?

Mark Anderson

I think that they’re good for anybody who likes to learn by doing because not everybody likes to learn in a classroom setting. They want to learn in the real world. So it's ideal for anybody who's quite a practical learner and likes to be on the job and be with people who can teach them what to do.

Katie Thistleton

Amazing. Well, I feel like I'm definitely learning a lot about apprenticeships that I didn't know. Jasmine, we can get it straight from the horse's mouth with you. You are doing an apprenticeship at the moment. How did you find out about it and how did you decide that was the right thing for you?

Jasmine Shum

So I actually found out about it through my college. They had an amazing careers department and they sent out sort of like weekly emails to the students about current careers opportunities. And so I decided to go, you know, listening and find out a bit more about what an apprenticeship is and what it actually entails. And then from there I decided I was actually really interested and still and so I started researching the different companies that offered apprenticeships.

Katie Thistleton

Why did it appeal to you a little bit more than going to do a traditional university degree? Doing an apprenticeship?

Jasmine Shum

I think I've always been quite a go-getter. Like, I like to get involved. I like to get stuck in. And the more I thought about, you know, studying for like another three years when I knew I really just wanted to go straight into work, the more university just didn't seem like the right choice for me.

Katie Thistleton

If you're considering your options and you're wondering if an apprenticeship might be the right fit for you, then why don't you check out the apprenticeships FAQs page over on the Bitesize Careers website? You'll find loads of answers to questions. There, such as ‘How much will I get paid?’ or ‘What qualifications will I need?’ to find out if it's the right fit for you.

Katie Thistleton

Now it's time for this. It's time for the big job interview.

Katie Thistleton

So this is something we're doing across the podcast. Jasmine I'm putting all of our guests to the test with a big job interview. How do you feel about that? How are you with interviews?

Jasmine Shum

I think I'm pretty good at interviews, didn't used to be, but think I've got a handle on them now.

Katie Thistleton

Did you have to do an interview for your apprenticeship?

Jasmine Shum

Yes, I did many, many interviews and online video ones as well as in person.

Katie Thistleton

All right. My first question is, what has been your career highlight so far?

Jasmine Shum

My highlight, I'd probably say hosting our internal apprenticeship awards. It was a really good opportunity to develop more on the personal side and not just the career side.

Katie Thistleton

What has been the scariest moment of your career so far?

Jasmine Shum

I'd probably say the first big sort of projects that I took on. It was, it was kind of very intimidating. I was like, Okay, they're trusting me with this and, you know, I need to make a good first impression with it. So, it was scary, but also equally as rewarding to then be able to do it and do it well.

Katie Thistleton

What advice would you give your younger self about your future career?

Jasmine Shum

That it's okay to not do what everyone else is doing. I think when all of your friends are going to university, there's a lot of pressure to sort of not necessarily follow them, but to just do what everybody else does. But you may actually find out that it's not the right path for you and doing something else will be ten times better.

Katie Thistleton

One final big question. Would you say that you're doing your dream career?

Jasmine Shum

I would actually, because I always knew I really liked business and did a triple Business BTEC at college and sort of from doing that, I figured out that I really liked marketing and obviously I now work in marketing. So yeah.

Katie Thistleton

Thank you so much, Jasmine. I thought you did very well in the big job interview. Thank you. She can be a bit scary, that interviewer, but I feel like you did a really good job. Mark, is there anything in particular that you'd like people to take away from this episode?

Mark Anderson

Well, I think the starting point is investigating, talking to people who maybe do apprenticeships, talking to people who've gone to university and just talking to a wide range of different types of people so that you can then think, is this going to suit me? So, I think just having those conversations is really important.

Katie Thistleton

Thank you so much to both of you. I feel like I've learnt a lot today. Hope you have as well. And if you want to do an apprenticeship like Jasmine, maybe her specific apprenticeship and you can get to the College, apprenticeships and uni page on the BBC Bitesize Careers website. There's loads of videos and fun quizzes that you can do on there as well to help you decide which career path is right for you. And I'll see you next time. All the BBC Bitesize Careers Podcast. Bye.