Uni or Apprenticeship?

What's the best way to get the career you want, Uni or Apprenticeship?
Post your thoughts...

It depends on your capabilities and ambitions. If you get a degree and if you are good then you cna end up in a better carreer or profession you need a degree for.
Apprenticeship depends on the quality of it, plus the experience and training.

Uni you should also consider the expense.

Reply 2

MechEngineer21

Hi Sam,

Both. Though, let me explain. As you haven't said in what profession i'll try and keep it as general as possible however my experience is from an engineering background.

An apprenticeship, usually 4 years, will give you a good insight into the business world teaching you commercial awareness, team work, organisation, time management, etc. All these skills will be very valuable to you later in your career. Within the engineering professions employers are more likely to employ someone with an apprenticeship qualification than a graduate out of university, obviously will not always be the case in the more technical roles, however, it certainly stands true in a lot of engineering roles. You should also consider that while doing an apprenticeship you are also taking home a salary each month and the cost of the course will be absorbed by your employer or the government depending on your age so effectively costs you nothing. A warning if you were to take this route though, check the college you are going to attend prior to signing up to the course or taking a job. The states that some of the colleges in this country are in is absolutely abysmal and will often teach you nothing.

A degree will often teach you a lot about the theoretical side of a job which once combined with a practical knowledge will lead you to having a very successful career. Though this practical knowledge can only really be gained from working and going through the motions of everyday life at work. A degree will be vital for moving forward in your career due to eventually hitting a glass ceiling where it will be very hard to progress without. A lot of employers most likely won't bother looking at you CV unless you have a degree or an extensive amount of experience within that field, though they will want you to be educated up to a certain level for quality purposes, etc. As mentioned above though do consider the expense of financing uni yourself, although these costs will be spread over 30 years and taken out of your pay packet before you get it so I wouldn't worry about them to much.

To summarize, an apprenticeship by no means is just for school drop outs that are not clever enough to go to university as some of the stigma surrounding them will have you believe. It is also very possible to get into a university with qualifications you gain from doing an apprenticeship, however, it will somewhat limit you to what universities you can attend due to the highest amount of UCAS points you can gain being 280 (don't quote me on that). Some employers will also sponsor you through a degree part time once you have finished the apprenticeship usually through a HNC / HND route. Going to university will also give you good employ-ability once you graduate and often will be a shorter route to becoming a manager, team leader, director, etc. The real point I'm trying to get across is whichever route you take you will usually end up with a degree providing you are willing to put in the effort and that an apprenticeship by no means limits you to not getting a degree.

Reply 3

Bittah Demon

Depends on your ambitions and sector.

Engineering apprenticeships are becoming more popular, and can allow you to gain a degree, and gain a lot of experience.
As has been said, you seem to be bred for management with a lot of technical knowledge through an apprenticeship, that you don't gain going the traditional degree route.

Reply 4

Sam46x

Thanks to all views, I just got a higher apprenticeship with a company who will fund my degree afterwards at university.

Reply 5

SeanKennedyIBM

Hey Guys,

I'm in the IBM apprenticeship scheme if you have any questions on what we offer or just apprenticeships in general.

I've been in my apprenticeship for 18 months so have quite a good idea of how things work :biggrin: