#NAW2017 - How an apprenticeship helped Tom find a career in marketing

For National Apprenticeship Week 2016 last year, I wrote a blog after joining SCAPE as an Office Trainee on a Level 2 Business Administration Apprenticeship and spoke about how I was enjoying learning on the job whilst working towards a qualification.

It’s now one year on, and I have completed my apprenticeship, enjoyed working with various departments and become a permanent member of staff. Taking an apprenticeship gave me the opportunity to learn more about the different areas of SCAPE and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who isn’t sure which career path to follow, or for anyone wanting to find out more about their career options.

Although I enjoyed supporting all departments, I have always been interested in marketing and it is an area I wanted to learn more about. In November 2016, I was given the opportunity to join the team and I am now working as a Trainee Marketing Assistant.

This can be anything from supporting the coordination of national and regional events, uploading content to the website CMS (Content Management System), to arranging print and delivery of marketing collateral and maintain stock levels.

I’m really grateful for the opportunity to get involved with such an interesting department, the team are very welcoming, approachable and keen to help me learn. It’s great that they have confidence in me and my abilities when assisting them on projects, which has increased the confidence I have in myself.

I feel that this is a positive environment for me to learn in, and my manager and I have developed a training plan for the next year, which identifies the key areas of marketing that I can learn more about. This will give me a wider skill set and a deeper understanding of all the elements involved.

Later in the year I will be taking some courses on digital marketing and the importance of branding in the marketing world. These will help me to understand how my role and the role of the team fits in to a wider marketing strategy.

In the future, I would love to progress within the department to be able to further support the team and the wider company as a whole. I plan to lead on projects from start to finish, developing my skills and marketing knowledge to continue supporting with a variety of tasks.

Starting my career as an apprentice was one of the best decisions I have ever made, it gave me an insight into all the different career paths that are available to young people. This has enabled me to find a varied and interesting job which challenges me and helps me learn new things every day.