Anisha speaks to Naisha, who has taken many different paths before going on her apprenticeship Journey.

Anisha explains how Naisha came to be on her apprentice journey, and demystify's the Degree Apprenticeship.

In this blog, I spoke to Naisha about her upcoming degree apprenticeship. She is a student from South Manchester and is currently on a gap year.

Why choose a degree apprenticeship?
After finishing her A-levels last year in maths, economics and German, Naisha filled her gap year with a retail job and volunteering. In India, she’ll be travelling to India for three months in March to carry on her charity work with which she has been involved in from a young age. Whilst university offers rigorous academic practices, there are many skills which those who choose to pursue other paths develop. The ability to present yourself, Naisha says, is something which she has developed over this interview practice, and something which her interaction with various cohorts and networking events will help with.
Naisha describes herself as a practical learner, and so got drawn to the more hands on approach. Instead of spending three to four years of university being dedicated purely to studies, she preferred the prospect of both studying and working full time. From noticing how she thrived more in maximising her time with different activities during school and college, she thought she could make the most out of a degree apprenticeship. 

It offers the opportunity of working full time and professionally in a company, which opens up benefits that a pathway of just university would not. One of these being both a general and financial independence. Instead of being weighed down with student loans, Naisha said having her degree being taken care of by the company with which she was employed was a great incentive, as well as a way to develop greater maturity with involvement in the working world. 

The process 
She started researching for companies around the time that most people start looking around for prospective universities. She says ‘trial and error’ was how it initially started, as colleges and schools don’t often help. Some companies have a three month period of applications and don’t get back to you until that’s over, whereas others will reply in a week or two of the CV screening.

Getting into a degree apprenticeship programme very much depends on which company or industry you are interested in. Naisha’s experience lies in the financial sector, which involves a CV screening (a fancy way of saying that they look over your CV and discuss past experience). The employee may ask why you want to join the company and invite you into a job simulation to see if your personality fits with the role you applied for. This can be quite challenging, especially if it is something you’ve never done before. However, there are some softwares which help with practice like Capfinity. The next step for her included a video interview and situational judgements, which include looking into case studies, write ups, financial analysis, and non- verbal reasoning. 

Further along the line involved meeting staff or previous apprentices for 1-1 interviews through a virtual assessment centre (google meet, zoom or teams). This may also be embedded within group tasks, where presentation skills and teamwork are assessed. Naisha commented on the lengthy process, which in itself can be seen as a skill requiring both dedication and independence. Whilst most of her peers would have chosen (as I did) the more mainstream and traditional route of going to university, pursuing a degree apprenticeship may seem a little more daunting and unfamiliar.
It’s clear that the degree apprenticeship pathway will offer a chance to strengthen the transferable skills of communication, group work and problem solving in the more professional work setting when exercising project management. Whilst it’s a varied and individual experience, hopefully this blog has given you a little more insight!

Author

Anisha Jaya Minocha is studying English and Spanish at the University of St Andrews, where she is School President for English. She worked in Andalucía, teaching. She is a writer and poet whose work has been showcased in winning competitions, readings and anthologies. She co-edits SINK Magazine, which gives a platform to Northern creatives, and founded the "Roots"" project with Friends of the Earth, developed during her writing residency with environmental charity Green and Away, exploring intersections between South Asian identity and ecology. Twitter: @anisha_jaya

Picture: Victor @ Unsplash