Taking on an apprenticeship with a degree

After completing four years of university with a master’s degree in English Literature, I was completely stuck on what to do next. A lot of the time, when I told people that I was doing an English degree, I was always asked ‘Oh, so you want to be a teacher?’ However, I always knew that being a teacher wasn’t the right path for me, so I started to explore my options.

About halfway through the duration of my master’s degree, I realised I wanted to pursue a career in marketing. I knew with the creativity and writing skills of an English Literature degree, as well as my own interest in social media and graphic design that this career path could be possible. The first obstacle that I found was that most of the job roles I was interested in were for mid to senior roles or required 1-2 years’ experience in marketing. Another obstacle was that a lot of the jobs I applied for were branded as marketing and I soon realised that they were in fact a role in sales!

So, after a few months of trial and error, I came across apprenticeships. Initially, I was slightly reluctant to the idea as I felt like I was almost taking a step back. After researching into the idea, I realised that this would be a great way for me to get my foot into the door in a career in marketing. While I have the creativity and writing skills of my degree, I have little to no experience working in a social media marketing role.

When I secured my position with The Juice Academy of a content apprentice, I was nervous that I would be the only person my age in the Cohort. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised that there is a large age range of people taking on an apprenticeship. The role has exceeded my expectations since I’ve started. I’ve learnt practical skills while on the job and received lots of support and opportunities from my team and line manager, and I’ve also learnt lots of skills from The Juice Academy sessions.

If you have just finished university, and you’re not sure where to go next or feel like you need more experience for a role – I would look into doing an apprenticeship, you never know what opportunities you might come across!

Nadine Parker-Jones, Content Creator Apprentice at Slater Heelis