Writing a CV for a degree apprenticeship

Original post by m.s124

Hi, I have just finished year 12 and am looking at degree apprenticeships. Some I have seen you need a CV to apply which I don't have.

How would you suggest I start with writing a CV?
What should I include?
How do I make it stand out?

Which degree apprenticeship are you thinking of applying for?

Original post by m.s124

Hi, I have just finished year 12 and am looking at degree apprenticeships. Some I have seen you need a CV to apply which I don't have.

How would you suggest I start with writing a CV?
What should I include?
How do I make it stand out?

There's a CV Help forum on TSR, click on Careers and Jobs and look for it there.

You stand out in applications by giving evidence of having all the right skills for the role you are applying for.

Reply 3

OP

Original post by Keir Starmer

Which degree apprenticeship are you thinking of applying for?

Probably an engineering degree apprenticeship or a digital/technology one. I take maths physics and computer science a level so I have an interest in both.

Reply 4

OP

Original post by threeportdrift

There's a CV Help forum on TSR, click on Careers and Jobs and look for it there.

You stand out in applications by giving evidence of having all the right skills for the role you are applying for.

Thank you I'll have a look.

Reply 5

epicraj

Original post by m.s124

Hi, I have just finished year 12 and am looking at degree apprenticeships. Some I have seen you need a CV to apply which I don't have.

How would you suggest I start with writing a CV?
What should I include?
How do I make it stand out?

I've applied to around 8 different companies for degree apprenticeships (BP, accenture, goldman sachs etc) and heres the key things to include:
- short but snappy personal statement to start off- summing up your key characteristics. no more than 2-3 lines
- your education (most recent first)
- any part time jobs or volunteering- include responsibilities- bullet point these
- any extracurricular awards and achievements

my CV was a page long but I always managed to pass the initial screening process and get to the interview stages, so the above tips work. main thing is to keep it concise and spend some time thinking of what to write in the personal statement to introduce yourself and stand out. good luck

Reply 6

OP

Original post by epicraj

I've applied to around 8 different companies for degree apprenticeships (BP, accenture, goldman sachs etc) and heres the key things to include:
- short but snappy personal statement to start off- summing up your key characteristics. no more than 2-3 lines
- your education (most recent first)
- any part time jobs or volunteering- include responsibilities- bullet point these
- any extracurricular awards and achievements

my CV was a page long but I always managed to pass the initial screening process and get to the interview stages, so the above tips work. main thing is to keep it concise and spend some time thinking of what to write in the personal statement to introduce yourself and stand out. good luck

Thank you so much! Which degree apprenticeship did you apply for at Goldman Sachs? I saw there was an engineering degree apprenticeship but not heard much about it.

Reply 7

epicraj

Original post by m.s124

Thank you so much! Which degree apprenticeship did you apply for at Goldman Sachs? I saw there was an engineering degree apprenticeship but not heard much about it.

I applied to the Software engineering one, didn't pass the video interview. but I got in BP for a data science degree apprenticeship starting in september

Reply 8

OP

Original post by epicraj

I applied to the Software engineering one, didn't pass the video interview. but I got in BP for a data science degree apprenticeship starting in september

Do you have any tips or things you wish you had done differently? Data science was also an apprenticeship I was looking at... good luck in September!!

Reply 9

epicraj

Original post by m.s124

Do you have any tips or things you wish you had done differently? Data science was also an apprenticeship I was looking at... good luck in September!!

Thanks, the main thing would definitely be preparation, the first few interviews/Assessment Centres I did I got rejected because I didnt link back to the values of the company or I didnt research the company enough. so make sure you research each company and spend at least 1-2 days doing that. Also apply to every company possible even if you don't planning on going there- this way you can build up your confidence and get lots of practice in. I got rejected from the first few companies I interviewed at but after that I kept going and finally got 3 offers to choose from. never give up- degree apprenticeships are very competitive- loads have one place but 30-40 people applying so you're obviously not going to be succesful with every company.

Reply 10

OP

Original post by epicraj

Thanks, the main thing would definitely be preparation, the first few interviews/Assessment Centres I did I got rejected because I didnt link back to the values of the company or I didnt research the company enough. so make sure you research each company and spend at least 1-2 days doing that. Also apply to every company possible even if you don't planning on going there- this way you can build up your confidence and get lots of practice in. I got rejected from the first few companies I interviewed at but after that I kept going and finally got 3 offers to choose from. never give up- degree apprenticeships are very competitive- loads have one place but 30-40 people applying so you're obviously not going to be succesful with every company.

Thank you so much :smile:

Reply 11

OP

Thank you so much :smile:

Reply 12

Chris2892

16

I’ve just finished my engineering degree apprenticeship.

Only applied for one and nailed the interview. I’d completed an engineering L2 and L3 apprenticeship.

However, I wasn’t hired because of my work experience.

I knew the following:
•What the company did
•Why i wanted to work there
•The company’s ethos and values
•How these aligned with my own morals and work style
•Their history and achievements
•The specific characteristics they were looking for
•Personal examples where I’d demonstrated characteristics they were looking for
•My strengths
•Situations where I’d utilised my strengths to achieve something
•My weaknesses
•Situations where I had worked on improving my weaknesses

I didn’t need any work based examples to answer these questions, but I could use my work experience to demonstrate my interest in that particular career pathway.

If you find you’re missing any of these, set yourself some homework.

Hope this helps

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Chris2892

I’ve just finished my engineering degree apprenticeship.

Only applied for one and nailed the interview. I’d completed an engineering L2 and L3 apprenticeship.

However, I wasn’t hired because of my work experience.

I knew the following:
•What the company did
•Why i wanted to work there
•The company’s ethos and values
•How these aligned with my own morals and work style
•Their history and achievements
•The specific characteristics they were looking for
•Personal examples where I’d demonstrated characteristics they were looking for
•My strengths
•Situations where I’d utilised my strengths to achieve something
•My weaknesses
•Situations where I had worked on improving my weaknesses

I didn’t need any work based examples to answer these questions, but I could use my work experience to demonstrate my interest in that particular career pathway.

If you find you’re missing any of these, set yourself some homework.

Hope this helps

Thank you so much this helps a lot. What was wrong with your work experience?

Reply 14

Chris2892

16

Original post by m.s124

Thank you so much this helps a lot. What was wrong with your work experience?

There was nothing wrong with my work experience,. It was relevant to the degree apprenticeship (both engineering research and development) and I had good references.

My point is that apprenticeship interviewers are less interested in the actual technical experience, but more the personal experience. Apprenticeships are designed to mould you from scratch into professional competence. They’re more interested in your ability to develop.

Sure previous experience can help show how you can develop, but you don’t need it. There are plenty of none work-based situations where you can demonstrate interpersonal and work related skills.

My supervisor recently bought me an insights assessment that helps you identify your unique strengths, such as individualisation and analytical abilities. It’s called Gallup’s Strengthsfinder 2.0, about £13 to £16 online.
This is beneficial for me post apprenticeship and something I include on my CV. I think it would be very useful for you in understanding the unique strengths that you can bring to a project/team.

Apologies for the essay, let me know if you have any questions

Reply 15

Ben-1

1

I’m applying as well for a data science degree apprenticeship if I could please look at the cv you used to get an idea

Reply 16

Ben-1

1

Original post by epicraj

I've applied to around 8 different companies for degree apprenticeships (BP, accenture, goldman sachs etc) and heres the key things to include:
- short but snappy personal statement to start off- summing up your key characteristics. no more than 2-3 lines
- your education (most recent first)
- any part time jobs or volunteering- include responsibilities- bullet point these
- any extracurricular awards and achievements

my CV was a page long but I always managed to pass the initial screening process and get to the interview stages, so the above tips work. main thing is to keep it concise and spend some time thinking of what to write in the personal statement to introduce yourself and stand out. good luck

I’m looking to apply for a data science degree apprenticeship can I have a look at your cv to get an idea or how to structure it ?

Reply 17

drea_vh