3aaa Apprenticeship
Monday 10th October 2016
Daniel Dudley has just completed his Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship with the 3aaa Leeds Academy. This article shows him highlighting the common misconceptions about further education and how you need to make the first step that is right for you, not for everyone else.
“I’ve officially completed my Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship! One year after leaving school and I’ve gained an internationally recognised qualification in Digital Marketing, invaluable work experience and a full-time work offer with my current employer.
About 2 years ago I made the decision that University wasn’t for me despite having the predicted grades to go. I began looking into alternative ways that I could get to where I wanted to be in my life. After a couple months of searching I came across some jobs that had reasonable pay but had no real future prospects, then I was asked by my friend if I had looked into doing an Apprenticeship. Until then, I had only ever heard negative things about Apprenticeships – low wages, irrelevant qualifications, no future prospects, and so on but I decided to look into it. They were wrong! I now see it as one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I secured a job at Diva Telecom, a company that was more than happy investing time and money into progressing my career. I started off with simple tasks like attending webinars, learning the company products and creating social media content for a company event. Gradually over the second month, I was given more and more responsibility and I began to feel that I actually had the skills and qualities to make a successful career for myself in Digital Marketing.
Over the next few months, I continued to develop my skills by attending seminars and networking events, further developing my Marketing skills and even managing my own campaigns. As part of my course, I was required to attend college once a month at the 3aaa Leeds Academy where I learnt about each aspect of Digital Marketing and completed pieces of coursework in a variety of techniques such as reports, tasks, and verbal discussions. The quality of teaching I received from my trainer, Lucy Goetz, was exceptional.
In August 2016, the Marketing Manager made the decision to leave and work on her own Marketing company. I was given the opportunity to run the Marketing for Diva Telecom myself! Although it has been a challenging period, I’ve dealt with it professionally and seen it as an opportunity to progress my career. It has definitely given me additional industry experience.
Overall, my experience as an Apprentice was brilliant. I honestly don’t understand why some people still have a negative view on Apprenticeships. Don’t get me wrong Apprenticeships aren’t for everyone, just like University isn’t for everyone, but if you know what it is you want to do and you can achieve this through doing an Apprenticeship, I would tell you to go for it!”
Alternatively, click here to find Apprenticeship vacancies close to you.
If you are the parent of a young person who is looking to take their next step in education, click here to find out why Apprenticeships are a viable option and how employers value the qualifications and experience young people gain through 3aaa Apprenticeships.
3aaa are a Grade 1 Ofsted Outstanding Apprenticeship Provider with 40 localised academies across England. We provide a match and fill process that finds young people their ideal vacancy in their local area.