Originally, I planned to go to university. At my school it was the done thing. I applied to study Sociology and Media and got a scholarship for the University of Sussex, but.I think I’ve always known that university wasn’t for me. So, just after my final A Level exams I applied for the apprenticeship on a whim. I interviewed the day before results day, and the day after results I got the job. I withdrew my university application on the same day! I’m sure everyone says it, but the great thing about an apprenticeship is that you’re learning on the job- you get so much experience (more on that later…) and you don’t end up with tens of thousands of pounds of debt that comes with a degree.
I had two interviews. The first was a group interview with my training provider, the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA). It was honestly a lot of fun. Over two hours, the four of us got to know one another, and worked on a PR project brief. Then, as aforementioned, I had an interview on the day before my A Level results day. It only lasted 20 minutes, and I think I just repeated everything on my application- my voluntary role, my blog, my involvement in the college council, the journalism society I lead, the creative writing project I was part of, the Extended Project Qualification I did alongside my AS Levels on the media… You name it, I probably mentioned it!
Once I had got the job, it took a long time to get started, but I’m now three months into a 15 month long apprenticeship. That sounds like a long time, but it is already flying by. When I eventually did start, I had a week of getting to grips with the department. I met with one person from every desk on press office, watched everything on our YouTube channels and looked over the Twitter and Facebook account, learnt how to use monitoring and analytics tools, got my head around the purpose of every campaign… The list is endless!
There’s no such thing as a typical day though! Every day begins with a look over the news, print and online. After that, however, anything can happen! I am on the digital team, but this actually covers a lot. We each work on two or three campaigns and work on prepping and scheduling the social media content. We also spend a lot of time monitoring, analysing and evaluating. I love working with the video and photography guys, filming and editing content for conferences or social media, and I’m just getting to grips with the absolute basics of graphic design. Every Tuesday, I study from home. The Level 4 in PR involves a lot of research, reading and writing so I need that completely free day to focus.
I love the spontaneity of my apprenticeship. It’s true that the communications industry is fast-paced, especially in government, so you never know that is going to happen. I also love the people I work with- I’m really lucky that my entire team is great! Everyone comes from different backgrounds, personally and professionally so that’s teaching me a lot. They’ve also given me some great opportunities- I know of apprentices being left to do the tasks that more permanent staff don’t want to do. I am being given responsibility for campaigns, filming Ministers, working alongside press on releases- I feel very lucky.
I’m not sure about challenges. I said I love the spontaneity but it can create a lot of pressure, when you think your day will be quiet and suddenly there’s bad press, a protest and a piece of camera kit that just won’t work... It’s also challenging being part of such a huge organisation. The department I work in employs thousands and thousands of people across the UK, so sometimes it’s difficult knowing exactly who to turn to. I’m learning loads though, obviously for my studies but also about myself: I love coffee, I enjoy getting involved with creative jobs a lot more than the written or analytical tasks and if I really try, I can be confident!
As I’m only really just beginning with the apprenticeship, who knows what the future holds! I’m 17% into the apprenticeship course, so I’m on track to finish by February 2018, but after that, I have no idea! For now, I’m really happy and looking forward to everything next year brings.
So what would I say to anyone thinking about applying? Do it. Seriously, right now, stop reading, go and write that application!