Choosing my own path

Growing up I had never heard of the term apprenticeships before, perhaps because it was common practice to go to a good university and get your degree there. The degrees were normally in sectors such as medicine and law. My parents had always been supportive and encouraged me to follow any path I wanted to go down. Since high school, I had an interest in graphic and product design, so I went to some university open days to see if this was the right subject area for me.

The verdict was, yes, I enjoy the creative side of the subject but I could not see myself doing lectures and the university life full time. I am very practical and pragmatic and like to learn by being proactive, so the prospect of going straight into the workplace, rather than attending university full time, felt like the right option for me.

Applying for degree apprenticeships

After coming to this decision, I participated in a mock interview day at my college, which was run by my current company, Aspire Development, A Cognition Learning Group Company. It was there that I learned that there was such a thing as a degree apprenticeship and that you can actually do both – study at university and get on-the-job work experience.

I started applying for digital apprenticeships online, and as I learned more about degree apprenticeships and did more research, I realised this was the right path for me. It felt like the best of both worlds.

After the mock interview day, I got in touch with the organiser and enquired about any part-time work in their digital teams. Although I had no prior experience of marketing, they offered me an after-school position managing their social media accounts.

While I was building up this industry experience, I was also still applying for Digital Marketing Degree Apprenticeships, and when I was offered a position on a course elsewhere, I told my current employer about my success. Incredibly, they matched the offer and supported me to apply for the same course at Manchester Met, which meant that I could stay closer to my family and continue working for my current employers. It feels great to be working for a company with lots of opportunity for growth, and seeing my ideas being put into action here.

Growing in confidence

I’d say my confidence has grown so much in the four years of the degree apprenticeship, and a lot of that has been down to the structure and content of the course. I have been given the opportunity to accelerate my career with my current employers through the degree apprenticeship and take on more responsibility each year. I feel like the degree apprenticeship has definitely prepared me for that. It’s giving me all the knowledge I need to contribute to new ideas and initiatives, including soft skills as well.

The experience I’ve had on the course of presenting my ideas to peers and industry experts as part of my assignments has given me the confidence and know-how to successfully pitch my ideas to senior executives in my company. I am now looking forward to my next steps and taking on a more senior role once I have completed my degree apprenticeship; something my employer is really supportive of and working with me to plan.

Recommending degree apprenticeships

I would 100% recommend the Digital Marketer Degree Apprenticeship with Manchester Met. There is so much support and so many different people you can talk to. Particularly, the skills coaches are really supportive and give advice on so many different aspects of university and work life. Then you have your lecturers, who are all experts in different fields and are happy to talk to you about your assignments and give you different perspectives.

We were the first cohort of Digital Marketer degree apprentices, and I’ve found the university really responsive to feedback about the pace and content of the course. We are given the opportunity for direct feedback through our student representatives, who meet regularly with course leaders and we always find that our feedback is received positively and acted on.

Learning from my peers

One of the things that is really valuable about the degree apprenticeship is having people with different expertise in the room with you – we have such a wide range of experience and industries represented in our cohort, and it’s so beneficial to share ideas about how they’ve run campaigns versus how you’re running them in your company and to learn not just from our lecturers but from each other as well.

Personally, I also felt a big sense of achievement when my skills coach nominated me for a Multicultural Apprenticeship Award, for which I was shortlisted. That was a really proud moment for me and I was able to network with other degree apprentice nominees and hear their stories and experiences.