This week is National Apprenticeship Week, so we caught up with our own apprentice Sam, to see her thoughts on being an apprentice so far…
How did you hear about an apprenticeship?
I first came across apprenticeships in Secondary School when we discussed next steps in lessons. This awareness grew when I was in college, and I had meetings with the Career Team who discussed apprenticeships with me and which apprenticeship I would be most suited for. These meetings and career fairs are what allowed me to discover digital marketing and learn about the opportunity to become a digital marketing apprentice.
I heard about the apprenticeship at GGD by expressing my interest in an apprenticeship to HBTC who then sent my CV to Green Ginger, as they thought I would be a good match.
What made you decide to go down the apprenticeship route?
I’d applied to do journalism at university but wasn’t 100% sure it was the right choice for me. This uncertainty pushed me to explore other options, and this apprenticeship felt like the perfect fit. Apprenticeships allow you to learn and gain experience while working and getting paid. It’s a very rewarding and exciting path to go down.
How long have you been doing your apprenticeship with GGD?
I’ve been at GGD for 6 months now. I started here after finishing my A-level exams. I’ve another year left of my apprenticeship, and I am hoping to further develop both my PPC and SEO skills in that time.
What were your responsibilities when you started the role and how did they evolve during your Apprenticeship?
When I first started at GGD, I had no previous experience in digital marketing, so my first weeks involved a lot of starter training sessions with the team and a lot of shadowing the daily tasks in the office. I started to take on more tasks such as BAU tasks (business-as-usual tasks, that help keep our accounts healthy) and ad copywriting following those training sessions and now that I am getting more confident, have started to work on my first clients alongside the team.
What is your job title now? What is involved in your role?
I am a Performance Marketing Apprentice. I work on both the PPC and SEO sides of marketing and am looking at taking over more SEO tasks in the coming months. A lot of my daily tasks involve writing new ad copy, search query reports, paid social ad creation, and helping to write the SEO monthly blogs. As I mentioned earlier, I have started to take on my own clients which I am very excited about. It gives me added responsibility which I feel ready to take on with the team’s support.
What would you say are the biggest takeaways/learnings from your apprenticeship?
This apprenticeship is my first proper 9-5 job, so I have learnt a lot about how workplaces run and what is expected of me within the workplace. It’s definitely a different environment to being at college. I have also learnt so much about digital marketing, I started my apprenticeship knowing nothing so looking back at my progress is something I’m very proud of. Going from knowing barely anything to being a part of the team shows how far I’ve come in such a small space of time.
What advice would you give to others thinking about doing an Apprenticeship?
If you’re unsure about the next steps and if university isn’t for you, I’d say an apprenticeship is a great option as it allows you to continue learning and move into a career whilst working and gaining other employable skills. If you get the opportunity to be an apprentice, I’d highly recommend giving it a go.
This blog was originally designed to be a video interview, but as you’ll be able to see with our bloopers video below, that didn’t quite go to plan! Instead, Sam has given us some giggles with her many outakes….
