Kate Hannon.  March 2021.

If someone asked me if I wanted to be an apprentice when I was a teenager, I would be instantly transported to a greasy car garage, where spotty boys would be doing a two-year stint at following their dads mate around, holding a spanner and a screwdriver whilst making a brew or two and learning the trade.  Alternatively, I would have considered upping my hours from washing hair as a Saturday girl in the hairdresser to doing five full days a week and a day release at college to learn all techniques of cutting hair and all of the science behind hair colouring.

Every grandparent in that land could be heard saying ‘You need a trade if you ever want to make any money’ and it was commonly understood that the only real way to get a trade was to complete an apprenticeship.

An apprenticeship offered little to no money at the time and it would be a full-time job alongside a full 2-year college course at the local polytechnic college.

There was no mistaking that being an apprentice was not the easiest way to get a qualification back in the day, in fact, it was probably so much harder back in the early nineties, which is why I probably chose the college route.  It left me free to get a part-time job which paid enough for me to get my own Tammy Girl bleached jeans and a New Kids on the Block LP from Our Price or Woolworths.

……

Nowadays, Apprenticeships are very different, they offer almost every skill in the education handbook.  There are hundreds of subjects to choose from, which vary from intermediate to master’s degree level.  They are unique in terms of how you learn on the job, you can apply the new knowledge immediately and not have to wait until you are on a placement to implement your new skills.

As a BA Social Work apprentice, I absolutely see the benefit of this work-based learning method.  My college days taught me a lot academically, but it took me years to actually apply it in practice – by which time a lot of that knowledge was old and out of date.

An apprentice is a real job, where you learn and gain experience and (the best bit) you get paid. It can take between one and six years to complete depending on which one you chose and what level it is plus the 20% learning section of your week will be delivered at a college or university.

An apprenticeship is funded by the Government and your employer and is a sustainable way of upskilling the workforce of the future, whilst keeping the valuable talent that exists within the economy and passing it down to the next generation.

As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we can celebrate the amazing successes that apprentices bring to the economy and how they will be shaping the future.  Have a go at this quiz to see what kind of apprentice you may be.

https://amazingapprenticeships.com/resource/naw2021-which-apprenticeship-am-i-quiz