Nadia opted for an apprenticeship in digital marketing rather than going to university. Since then, her confidence has grown as she’s taken on more responsibilities.
Find out why she chose an apprenticeship and her advice for anyone considering one.
“It is a chance to get to know myself and enhance my capabilities.”
I’m 18, I started a digital marketing apprenticeship at Furnishings UK Ltd. back in July, so I’ve been here for five months now. I completed my A levels before I started doing this.
I am a digital marketing apprentice. I write blogs to increase the website SEO of my company. I will write blogs about the company or the products that we currently have. There are certain tags or keywords that I will include so that my blogs will show up in search engine results. Or occasionally I will do Instagram posts for my company as well.
It was a mix of things I could do and things I couldn’t do. There were parts of marketing that I was familiar with, things like psychology, design and art as I did them at GCSE and A level. There were also parts I wasn’t familiar with, things like coding and customer service, so I could learn them. It was a perfect balance of both really.
I finished my A levels this year and our grades were based on teacher assessment. I felt like my year wasn’t really given enough guidance for careers and university. I thought that if I wanted to get into marketing I didn’t necessarily have to go to university. There are some roles where you would want to get a degree, for example science and medicine, but for marketing I felt that I could get into it with an apprenticeship and gain experience as well.
One of my main struggles coming onto the apprenticeship was time management. At school it was 9am to 3pm, but in my current role it is 9am to 5pm. By the time I get home it is around 6pm, and there are hobbies and things that I like doing. I feel like I have to make time to do them rather than just going on social media.
Doing the apprenticeship, I felt like I have to manage my time efficiently. It’s made me appreciate weekends and the time I have for myself.
My tutor is awesome! I love Veronique. She supports me through my coursework. She knows that I like completing the progress bar and seeing it full. I go through the work quickly, she understands that I like to work quite fast and she lets me work at my own pace.
There are sometimes when I have to prioritise my work over my coursework, and I can’t finish an assignment on time. Veronique has never pressured me to finish it for a certain time. Every time I have had a problem, or I have been a bit confused, she has explained it in the best way possible. She’s given me some great feedback as well. If I have any problems, she is there for me as someone to listen and gives me that emotional support.
My workplace is very chilled, it’s not stressful at all and I have great colleagues around. There’s not really been any problems. There’s a list of responsibilities I’m supposed to have, but as I’m fairly new I’ve been given them gradually.
When I started off, I was given two blogs per week to write once I had got up to speed, and just recently I’ve started to create the Instagram posts as well. Photoshop isn’t something that I’m familiar with so it’s a new skill that I’m learning. These responsibilities are given to me gradually rather than all at once, so it’s allowed me to progress.
Definitely do it! There’s not much to lose really because an apprenticeship is completely flexible, it’s not like a traditional course. It revolves around you. The way you progress and how quickly you progress depends on how you choose to move forward. There’s no restrictions to it. My apprenticeship is 18 months but if I want to complete it before then or take a little longer, I can do that. You won’t get that with a degree or university as they tend to move at their pace. You also get experience with an apprenticeship so it’s a two-in-one rather than just learning.
We offer a range of apprenticeships from entry-level to senior management. Find out you can upskill in your role.