After finishing my GCSEs and achieving good grades, I was unsure of what I wanted to do next. I felt I had outgrown my current school and needed something new.

Initially, I applied for a Level 3 Dental Nurse apprenticeship as the idea of an apprenticeship had always appealed to me. I got the job, but it required travelling for several hours twice a week as I would be based in two different areas, and I knew after a while this would be very tiring. But the idea of an apprenticeship was so intriguing and I loved the idea of being able to work while gaining a qualification.

I applied to several colleges in the area and decided on one that had a bus from where I lived, but each journey was an hour long. Regardless, I was drawn to the fact there were more options of subjects to take than my school’s sixth form, so I applied and was awarded a place.

I started in September alongside my best friend and we went into our first day so excited for a new start and to meet new people. But the experience was far from what we expected- we struggled to find any support and found that we were not taking subjects we were passionate about. The days were long and two hours on the bus every day was a big commitment. We knew it wasn’t for us and so we dropped out.

The day we dropped out, I remember we were just walking for hours trying to come up with a plan on what to do and we felt so lost. The new school year had already started and we didn’t want to be behind our friends. My friend’s mum suggested we go speak to our high school’s sixth form team and so we went in later that day. They convinced us to sign up, and as we were so uncertain about what we should be doing, we did. At the time, we weren’t sure on the idea, but we had no clue what to do and so we stayed.

After changing my A-Levels several times, I was set on studying History, Media and English Literature. I began to really enjoy life at sixth form and was happy I had ended up there, but as time went on, the pressure of deadlines and heavy exam content left me even more burnt out, and it was about this point that I started to go off the idea of attending uni.

Having always been academically strong, most people presumed I would go to uni, and my head of sixth form even told me he thought I would do really well there. But my heart wasn’t in it, and while all my friends knew what they wanted to study and where they wanted to go, I had no clue what subject I would even consider applying before, let alone at what uni.

Whilst some people in the years above me at school had gone on to apprenticeships, the natural route was still university. I remember telling a career mentor I had at the time that I didn’t want to go to uni as I was too unsure, and he told me I “wouldn’t even be able to get a job as a binman without a degree”. There was such a stigma around getting a degree and going to university, but I knew it wasn’t for me, which is why I wanted to go for an apprenticeship.

The idea of degree apprenticeships was not too new to me as I had been considering an apprenticeship since year 11, and I had always had a strong intention to work and be independent, as I had started working at 15 and had had 8 jobs before starting my apprenticeship. But degree apprenticeships were framed to be practically impossible to get and I was scared that if I committed to the idea of doing one, I would be disappointed.

I applied anyways to several different roles as I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do. The application process was very long and tiring and definitely not something I miss! I would spend my free periods and evenings drafting up several versions of personal statements and cover letters. Everybody talks about how hard this part is, but I don’t think I considered how draining it would be to put all this time and work in before I saw any immediate result.

At this time, my best friend was going through a similar situation and was also trying to balance the heavy number of apprenticeship applications. We would sit together and try to help each other through it, but it was so long and daunting.

I went to my careers councillors for help applying to apprenticeships and wanted to ask them for tips because I was so tired, but they rejected my request for a meeting in favour of prospective uni students drafting their personal statements. More than anything, this angered me as I felt my careers councillors had given up on me because I had rejected the traditional path.  

Despite the lack of support on the whole at sixth form, I am grateful that I had a very supportive head of year and head of sixth form who told me to do something I enjoy, which was nice to hear amongst all the talk about uni. This motivated me to keep going with applications and interviews, and eventually I landed my first assessment centre!

The assessment centre was something I had never done before, despite having had so many jobs, and so the process was extremely daunting. Even the experience of walking into an actual workplace at such a young age was very overwhelming.

I received a phone call only 2 hours after getting home telling me I had got the job and I was so relieved. I was so happy to see the all my hard work pay off and to have an actual plan for when I left sixth form.

When I informed my careers councillors that I had been offered a degree apprenticeship, they asked if they could share the news on Twitter, which was extremely ironic as they had ignored me throughout the entire process, but then wanted to mention it publicly. Obviously I said no!

When I look back on how lost I felt after dropping out of college and how grateful I am now for landing my current apprentice role as a Commercial Real Estate Degree Apprentice at Cushman & Wakefield, I am proud that I stuck it out and went after what I wanted, even when I was tired or it was hard.

The advice I would give to an aspiring apprentice would be:

·      Research the role – Understand what the apprenticeship involves so you can explain why you want that career, not just a job. The employer will also want to know that you have a passion and understanding of what the apprenticeship entails.

·      Apply early and widely – Apprenticeships are competitive, so apply to multiple employers, not just one. Most employers open applications on National Apprenticeship Week, which is at the start of February.  

·      Use official platforms – Regularly check sites like the government apprenticeship service, employer websites, and local job boards. I found the best tool was the government apprenticeship website, but many employers announce new roles on LinkedIn.

·      Gain experience – I have my own opinions about this one. Some of the feedback I received when I was applying was that I was a strong candidate because I had had several jobs and a variety of different roles before applying to be an apprentice. Most candidates have done some form of work experience or had a part time job, so you need to show that your work ethic stands out from theirs.

·      Prepare for interviews – Be ready to explain why you want the apprenticeship and what skills you already have or want to develop. But also, know the company- your interviewer wants to hear that you have taken the time to learn about what they do.

·      Show enthusiasm– Employers know  you’re starting out and apprentices are not expected to know everything, which is why they are investing in your development and education, but the interviewer wants to know if you will work well in their environment.

·      Be professional from the start – Reply to emails politely, turn up on time, and dress appropriately for interviews or chats. First impressions matter!

·      Learn from other apprentices - I am a proud ambassador of the OuterCircle network that helps aspiring apprentices connect to current apprentices and give them feedback and opportunities. In the past, we have done mock interview workshops and social events and this is so helpful for an aspiring apprentice to get help on their interview technique and learn from current apprentices what to expect! I believe the best people you can learn from are the people who have done it themselves. 

Rosie Blackwell

Commercial Real Estate Degree Apprentice

You can find out more and connect with Rosie on LinkedIn.