My name is Subhaan and I’m a Materials Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce. I’m writing this blog to share my story about getting into an apprenticeship and to help others also get an apprenticeship.

I remember being introduced to apprenticeships in year 10 by a friend - getting a free degree and getting paid at the same time seemed like the greatest thing to me. Deep down it was something I really wanted to do. Then year 11 came and the thought of apprenticeships left my mind, I didn’t know what I wanted to do in sixth form/college so I just applied to do Business at a local college and got in. I wasn’t sure if this was the right choice for me aspiration-wise, but I wasn’t confident in myself to push myself to do something that would direct me towards Engineering.

Sitting in my GCSE maths class I was speaking to one of my friends about how I was going to do business after secondary, he instantly told me I should try to go into engineering as I was good at the STEM based subjects. After some convincing he got me to apply to a Sixth Form that was a UTC (University Technical College). I applied to do Maths, Chemistry and Physics and it gave me more motivation to do well in my GCSE’s. I started to revise more often, going to extra support sessions before and after school. GCSE’s came and went but unfortunately maths didn’t go my way, I still thought I could get the grade to do maths at the sixth form but still I decided to make a plan B.

Apprenticeships came back on my radar and this time I researched properly and I saw most apprenticeships accepted BTEC engineering. Thankfully, the sixth form also did BTEC engineering with less requirements than traditional A-Levels. I thought to myself I should do a BTEC anyways since it would give me more technical knowledge compared to A-levels and to still be able to get an apprenticeship. I went onto the application portal and switched to BTEC Engineering.

Over the summer, waiting to start sixth form doing BTEC engineering I thought I was making a mistake but from day one I enjoyed it. I loved the technical side of it, each assignment posed a new problem, and it was interesting to try and solve it. Throughout the first few months the college pushed countless opportunities at us, but I was too shy and lazy to put myself into them. It got to around March time and I realised going into year 13 I had practically no technical experience to put on my CV. I decided then I need to be more confident and apply to all the opportunities that came my way. First opportunity was a Project Design work experience at a construction company called Mace. I went through the application and got the interview. To be honest I was so nervous I was literally shaking. After the interview I wasn’t sure if it went well or not but I was happy I put myself out there and actually did it. A few days later I got an email to say I got the place. I was ecstatic with myself. It instilled in me a new level of self-belief. I then applied to every opportunity that came out and I was able to secure two more work experiences at National Grid and a Plane Build Project. Now I wasn’t going into apprenticeship application year with no experience - but in fact the opposite.

Apprenticeship applications came out and I was applying to as many as I could find whilst putting maximum effort into my applications. I knew I was going to get rejected by a few, but it felt like constant rejection with no success. I tried hard not to let it get to me and I kept applying. Then I started to become successful in getting interviews and assessment centres. I was then going into interviews knowing what to expect from the process, as I had done so many beforehand. This time I got “Reserve Offers” if someone who got the offer dropped out the place would be mine. This knocked my confidence to a different level, I was good enough not to be rejected but not good enough to get the full offer. Then I got my invitation to my Rolls-Royce assessment centre, a last-ditch effort to fully secure a full offer. I put all my effort into the preparation, and I was confident going into the assessment centre, and it did go very well.

After the assessment centre I went to Malaysia with my sixth form for work experience to help local communities in Borneo. I remember sitting on top of a mountain after doing a sunrise hike thinking if I will even get the Rolls-Royce offer or will I need to take a gap year? I had a weird sense of faith that I performed well enough to get it and I believed in myself. A few days later we had migrated to the jungle and at midnight I checked my email and I had a message from one of the recruiters looking for a time to arrange a call. Unfortunately, I had no signal so the call would not have connected. I had to wait 5 days till I got back for the call, and the anticipation was killing me.

Finally getting the call, it was good news. I got the offer and once the recruiter told me, I was too stunned to speak. My goal from year 10 I had finally achieved it, and it was at one of the best aerospace companies in the world.

I hope my story shows you that if you are looking to get an apprenticeship, don’t count yourself out and always have that self-belief that you can get the apprenticeship. When applying and going for interviews make sure you’re the most well-prepared person in the room, know the company from front to back. When applying and being in an interview, don’t be scared to speak highly of yourself, it may seem weird but it’s not, because it shows the enthusiasm you have in everything you have done. One of my biggest tips would be to show that you have a growth mindset and you want to grow as a person and a constant learner because otherwise why would a company invest in an individual without ambition. 

Subhaan Mahmood

Materials Engineering Degree Apprentice @Rolls-Royce

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