It’s National Apprenticeship Week!
This week it’s National Apprenticeship Week – a great chance to learn more about apprenticeships and think about one as an option after leaving school or if you’re considering a career change.
Apprenticeships are a brilliant way to learn skills to give you a career for life – earning whilst you do it!
Meet Sam
Sam is currently a painter decorator apprentice with Raven:
Sam worked in childcare for twenty years and during covid lockdowns, she started thinking about a career change: “I was not really enjoying my job but because I had been doing it for so long I just couldn’t see how I could change industry whilst continuing to earn a living. I saw Raven were advertising for a painter decorator, which caught my attention as I’ve always been a pretty hands on person and in lockdown I got so much enjoyment from decorating my home. I went along to find out more about the opportunity at an open morning. It was then I discovered apprenticeships weren’t just for school leavers!! I could learn the skills I needed to change my career, improve my work/life balance and keep money coming in. I was so pleased, I hadn’t considered that an apprenticeship could be an option for someone like me.
I’m not going to say it was an easy decision but I’m so happy I made the jump and I’m now doing something I really love.”
Working alongside her mentor at Raven, Sam has learnt many practical skills on-the-job and has achieved her big aim of being able to cut in with a paint brush. “I’ve learnt so much on the job at Raven and together with the skills I’m building on at college I’m getting a rounded overview of the trade to set me up for the rest of my career.”
Meet Matthew
Matthew completed his four year electrical apprenticeship with Raven in 2018:
“It was becoming clear at school that an academic route wasn’t the best option for me, so my Dad encouraged me to look for a job in a trade. Like many teenagers, I pushed back a bit… but now I’m thankful to him as it was the best way into work for me. He said, being in a trade you’ll never be short of work or friends and he was right!”
Since completing his apprenticeship with Raven, Matthew is now a qualified electrician and is a working quality supervisor in our trades team, he said: “my apprenticeship gave me the skills I can use for the rest of my life and I’m thankful of that. I would say my attitude and want to succeed along with the on-the-job training has got me to where I am today.”
We asked Matthew what he would say to someone considering an apprenticeship and he said: “go for it – 100%! The uni route isn’t for everyone, I know so many people who went to uni who aren’t using their degree in their jobs now and they’ve got big debts because of going. With an apprenticeship you build employment history, get practical training and learn skills … all whilst you’re earning! The work-life balance I have is great and even when I was doing the coursework for my apprenticeship I wanted to do it as I knew it was working towards my career in a useful way.”
To find out more about an apprenticeship with us, visit our Apprenticeships Careers page. There’s some handy FAQs to tell you more about how apprenticeships work and you can register your interest to find out when we release more apprenticeship opportunities here at Raven.
There’s also loads of information on the National Apprenticeship Week website here.