A break with the traditional road to university

The road to university is regarded as one of the oldest and most traditional parts of someone’s education - the inevitable transition from high school/college to university at 18 is regarded as the natural step forward.

But this wasn’t my choice.

I found lessons were never of huge interest to me at school. I enjoyed my time in education a lot, but I believe that if you’re going to do a degree, you have to really enjoy what you’re doing and have a passion for it.

While there were subjects I enjoyed in school, I never felt they were something I wanted to study for another three or even four years.

I turned to the National Apprenticeship website for some inspiration and The Juice Academy social media apprenticeship stood out for me immediately.

After trawling through pages of frankly boring job posts, it was The Juice Academy apprenticeship I was really hoping for – I just wanted the chance to prove myself at the selection day.

The bootcamp day was intense to say the least; we did ‘speed-dating’ style interviews, a creative task, created a Vine video, completed a writing test and were interviewed one-to-one with potential employers.

Half of the aspiring apprentices were sent home at lunch, and even more left after the afternoon session – it was cut-throat and only the strongest would survive (but they were kind and told the unlucky ones individually, in closed rooms – not in front of the room X-factor style!)

It’s now only a few weeks later and I’m lucky enough to be one of the apprentices in the Academy’s first intake. I work in Manchester, I love my job, I feel like I’m learning relevant skills and I’d like to think I add a lot of value to the company I’m placed at.

Social media stood out for me as the growing face of marketing. As a concept, it impacts on the success of any business and I get to see the part it plays, and its importance, every day.

The Juice Academy has supported me throughout the whole process and given me even more ideas on how I can use my skills.

Social media is an industry that is still young and growing, but more importantly, it’s going places. I wanted to be on board with it and be part of the young force driving it forward – I’m very glad I am.