Read Jess’s Story about her Apprenticeship

I left college at the start of my second year and became an apprentice at The Workplace Depot in November 2012. I have always been interested in PR, journalism/blogging and I have worked with local newspapers and my previous college with a magazine. I wanted to learn about a career in Media and Public Relations by working with people who are in that sector.

I came across Babington Business College by searching for colleges in the area that took on apprentices. They offered the right qualifications known to the majority of businesses, which was great. I then applied for an apprenticeship at The Workplace Depot, because they already had an apprentice who was on the college scheme.

I am doing a Business and Administration Course at Babington Business College and looking through the course materials and all the different units of it, I am confident that I will be able to learn the correct things for my apprenticeship. I have been put on a newer course which involves an e-portfolio, in which I can upload my work, evidence, CV, and certificates so it is all in one place and is easy to access for me and my assessor. I can also track my progress online and see what work has been set for me.

Learn in a real environment

Another reason that apprenticeships are excellent is because they are designed for young people who want to work rather than go through a longer route of education. I think this is more worthwhile to the individual as you are learning whilst working in a real working environment. You gain more skills, knowledge and experience and in the majority of apprenticeships, you are virtually guaranteed a job at the end of it.

When you get an apprenticeship, you don’t just learn about the job you have applied for, you are taught other skills – in my case, I have learnt a bit about web data entry and Search Engine Optimisation. I have added many workplace product pages to the company’s website – and written stories for the online blog. As part of my apprenticeship, I have been taught the basics on how to run a website and I have recently started writing on a website – it is all about local news in Bingham, Nottinghamshire and the close surrounding areas.

The Workplace Depot

The Workplace Depot sells 20,000 Industrial and Workplace products sourced from more than 120 global manufacturers. They have over 20 years experience in the sector and their range of products is available via their website – or through their catalogue. In 2012 The Workplace Depot won an International Green Apple Silver Award for Environment Best Practice.

The Workplace Depot currently have two apprentices working within the online department. In the recent past, we have had an apprentice through Babington who completed the Association of Accounting Technicians programme and subsequently attained a full-time position with the company.

Matt Janaway, Head of Digital at The Workplace Depot, “The importance to us of having apprentices are that we can develop young people to have the skills and qualifications that we can actually utilise. Hiring skilled staff can be quite expensive and it is often more cost effective to hire apprentices and mould them into the workforce we need.”