Andrew recently joined our team at Careermap. We believe apprenticeships are a great way to gain skills and experience!

After graduating from university with a degree in International Business and Entrepreneurship, I knew that a career in marketing was the path I wanted to take and I was eager to put my skills and knowledge to the test.

I knew that I was entering into an extremely competitive job market and a degree on its own wasn’t going to be enough if I wanted to stand out from the crowd. In order to elevate my position in the job market and improve my value proposition to potential employers, I needed to gain more experience in this field.

I found myself in a paradox of needing more experience, in order to gain more experience. This obstacle led me down a route of taking short term contracts and also doing a lot of unpaid work.

I had other opportunities that would have allowed me to find more permanent work, but they weren’t marketing related. I wanted to prove to future employers that I was serious about a career in marketing and I felt that this was a good option to do so, especially through unpaid work experience.

Whilst this choice allowed me to  break into the marketing environment and start to build up some experience, I was still in a position in which I wanted a more permanent role that would also allow me to continue to learn and progress in a marketing related field.

This is when I started to consider an apprenticeship. The opportunity to gain hands on experience, apply the skills and knowledge that I’ve already gained, and continue developing and learning, sounded like the perfect fit.

I applied for a Digital Marketing Apprenticeship with Careermap through QA and from the first point of contact I had with the agency I felt like I’d made the right choice. The support and guidance I received during the application process, including my interview, was unlike any other recruiter that I’d dealt with before. They showed a genuine interest in me and what I wanted to get out of an apprenticeship, and this filled me with confidence.

I was successful with my application and the continued support throughout the process from everyone involved with Careermap and QA was a significant factor for me when accepting the role. I started my apprenticeship in January 2021 and I’m excited about the chance to enhance my skills and future career opportunities in a role that I’m passionate about and enjoy being involved in.