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What are apprenticeships like?

I am thinking about doing one, but how are they? How is your life like in general?

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Original post by loveleest
I am thinking about doing one, but how are they? How is your life like in general?


You generally work as a regular junior or trainee employee with day release every week or something.
Reply 2
Original post by Kvothe the arcane
You generally work as a regular junior or trainee employee with day release every week or something.


Did you do an apprenticeship? if so, would you recommend it?
Original post by loveleest
Wwould you recommend it?


Depends on what you want to get out of it.

Aren't you doing a degree?
Reply 4
i'm currently doing an apprenticeship in IT and its alright not too bad - the pay is abit shite but you could get better , it kind of depends on if you wanna work and stuff but yeah they are good. Although i am currently applying for uni instead of carrying on with my apprenticeship :P
Reply 5
Original post by Kvothe the arcane
Depends on what you want to get out of it.

Aren't you doing a degree?


Well I want to get into media, and I have no idea if I want to go to uni or do an apprenticeship... I am leaning towards an apprenticeship but I don't know what it is like

Nope, I am still doing A levels :smile:
Reply 6
Original post by gertautas
i'm currently doing an apprenticeship in IT and its alright not too bad - the pay is abit shite but you could get better , it kind of depends on if you wanna work and stuff but yeah they are good. Although i am currently applying for uni instead of carrying on with my apprenticeship :P


So you don't like your apprenticeship? Is it good in terms of social life etc..?
Original post by loveleest
Well I want to get into media, and I have no idea if I want to go to uni or do an apprenticeship... I am leaning towards an apprenticeship but I don't know what it is like

Nope, I am still doing A levels :smile:


You work at a lower wage and have training for some professional qualification delivered through a local apprenticeship provider.

Original post by loveleest
So you don't like your apprenticeship? Is it good in terms of social life etc..?


An apprenticeship is nothing but a job + training. No social life besides the class you have and of course any plans made with local employees.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by Kvothe the arcane
You work at a lower wage and have training for some professional qualification delivered through a local apprenticeship provider.



An apprenticeship is nothing but a job + training. No social life besides the class you have and of course any plans made with local employees.


Ugh, that sounds so boring. Uni sounds better but I don't feel I should waste 9k for three years when I could get paid for learning and working.
Idk what to do :frown:
Original post by loveleest
Ugh, that sounds so boring. Uni sounds better but I don't feel I should waste 9k for three years when I could get paid for learning and working.
Idk what to do :frown:


You could find a higher paid entry level job and possibly work on media skills in your own time.

You could recognize that uni debt isn't real debt and not worry about it and go.

Not all apprenticeships are the same and the level 3, 4 stuff are paid higher. If you're doing A levels, you should aim for those.
Nah no social life which is why im leaving and going to uni hahah , literally i thought i might make friends etc but nothing really its full on work pretty much , to be honest with you i don't like my apprenticeship no but you may get a better one !
Reply 11
Original post by Kvothe the arcane
You could find a higher paid entry level job and possibly work on media skills in your own time.

You could recognize that uni debt isn't real debt and not worry about it and go.

Not all apprenticeships are the same and the level 3, 4 stuff are paid higher. If you're doing A levels, you should aim for those.


But you still need to pay back money once you get a job and I would save and make money when doing an apprenticeship but I still want to have a social life.
Yeah, I will look out for the higher paying ones :smile: Thank you
Original post by loveleest
But you still need to pay back money once you get a job and I would save and make money when doing an apprenticeship but I still want to have a social life.
Yeah, I will look out for the higher paying ones :smile: Thank you


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Doesn't really break the bank!

You can certainly have a social life while doing an apprenticeships. There just won't be socs as there are in Uni. You'll have your colleagues, friends to make plans with and you can use sites like meetup to find like-minded individuals at groups.

No worries.
Original post by loveleest
But you still need to pay back money once you get a job and I would save and make money when doing an apprenticeship but I still want to have a social life.
Yeah, I will look out for the higher paying ones :smile: Thank you


me again, yeh maybe if you land into the right one you will be able to get a social life etc , but at my one there isn't any really unless you wanna hang with fellow workers , which at 18 i dont want to be doing haha
Original post by loveleest
Well I want to get into media, and I have no idea if I want to go to uni or do an apprenticeship... I am leaning towards an apprenticeship but I don't know what it is like

Nope, I am still doing A levels :smile:


Hi there! You should take a look at some specific media related apprenticeships on the gov.uk website here. There's also a cool video here which includes stories from people on real media apprenticeships - their job titles at the end are pretty impressive!

I've worked at media/marketing companies in the past and the social life is generally pretty good though it obviously varies from company to company. You'll probably get a sense of how good the social life will be by just walking through the office during the interview! How chatty everyone is, if they look close to you in age, etc.
Reply 15
Original post by Kvothe the arcane
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Doesn't really break the bank!

You can certainly have a social life while doing an apprenticeships. There just won't be socs as there are in Uni. You'll have your colleagues, friends to make plans with and you can use sites like meetup to find like-minded individuals at groups.

No worries.


This is really helpful, thanks again :smile:
So which one would you recommend then uni or an apprenticehsip?
Original post by loveleest
This is really helpful, thanks again :smile:
So which one would you recommend then uni or an apprenticehsip?


The decision is up to you. And my career aspirations require I do a degree.

I just wanted to make the idea of uni debt less scary, assure you that you could have a life with an apprenticeship but also remind you that Universities do uniquely have societies which will host events and activities.
Original post by loveleest
I am thinking about doing one, but how are they? How is your life like in general?


Original post by Kvothe the arcane


An apprenticeship is nothing but a job + training. No social life besides the class you have and of course any plans made with local employees.


I don't agree with this at all! I'm doing an apprenticeship at the moment and have just finished it. I've been given a full time position & still go out every weekend. Mine was the kind where you do your "work" online rather than having a day a week where you go to college or whatever. It's really relaxed and I've met loads of friends here. They don't treat me like an apprentice at all! I've only been here a year and gone from minimum wage to an almost £4000 increase!

I'd rather do that than uni where I'm getting myself into debt but still having to work to be able to pay rent and stuff. I chose this rather than uni & I have never regretted it. (Mines in digital marketing & I wanted to do media & communications at uni)
Reply 18
Original post by bethwalker85
I don't agree with this at all! I'm doing an apprenticeship at the moment and have just finished it. I've been given a full time position & still go out every weekend. Mine was the kind where you do your "work" online rather than having a day a week where you go to college or whatever. It's really relaxed and I've met loads of friends here. They don't treat me like an apprentice at all! I've only been here a year and gone from minimum wage to an almost £4000 increase!

I'd rather do that than uni where I'm getting myself into debt but still having to work to be able to pay rent and stuff. I chose this rather than uni & I have never regretted it. (Mines in digital marketing & I wanted to do media & communications at uni)


oh ok! As someone else said on this thread, they said that theh didnt have a social life. So I gues it differs from different people
Thanks though :smile:
Reply 19
Original post by gertautas
i'm currently doing an apprenticeship in IT and its alright not too bad - the pay is abit shite but you could get better , it kind of depends on if you wanna work and stuff but yeah they are good. Although i am currently applying for uni instead of carrying on with my apprenticeship :P


What type of IT apprenticeship you doing, I beed looking at doing a IT one, Why do you want to go uni if you doing an apprenticeship?

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