Being an Apprentice

Have you always wondered what it’s like to be an Apprentice? Or more specifically a Social Media Apprentice? Then this is just for you!

Let's start off simple, hi, I’m Katie and I’m the Social Media/Content Creation Apprentice for Down At The Social (DATS) in Manchester.

I originally heard about apprenticeships at The Juice Academy from my boyfriend, who had already finished his apprenticeship here and I was super interested. Already having had previous Social Media experience running my own TikTok account and basically being obsessed with social media since I was a teenager, there couldn’t have been a better fit for me.

Starting out at a new job and having to attend sessions at the Juice Academy was kinda daunting, but the first time I sat down for an academy session all of the fear was gone. All of the tutors at Juice are hands down some of the nicest and most supportive people I have ever met.

So I guess now you’re wondering what I actually do in a day, right? In short I stare at my laptop screen all day, which sounds ridiculously dull but trust me it’s fun.

I do lots of different bits in a day, like checking on clients' Social Media channels for engagement, creating videos for socials in Premiere Pro, creating graphics in Illustrator, scheduling content, meetings with clients and more! There is a lot to get done and the chaos truly never ends, but that's just agency life for ya.

Working in an agency was a totally new experience for me and weirdly enough, you actually settle into the chaos in a very short period of time. Got one client needing to have a meeting about their content, whilst also having to create videos for another client AND have reports to do all at the same time? No worries, that's just an average day.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been pretty blessed to work at DATS because I love the people I work with! We all have a laugh, they help me when I need it and most importantly we all go out for a drink once a month.

I’ve been on the apprenticeship for around 5 months now and I still love it. The Juice Academy truly care about their apprentices and as geeky as it sounds, the learning is actually fun. I’ve learned so many skills being on this apprenticeship it's insane, before I started I had absolutely no idea how the hell any of the Adobe programs worked and now I use them every day!

Katie McDonnell, Cohort 35, Social Media Marketing Apprentice at Down at the Social