Apprenticeship Journey: My Perspective
by Emily, PR & Comms Apprentice
Just starting out in your PR & Comms apprenticeship journey? Have a read of my own personal experience on this journey to see how my experience and top tips can help you!
A bit of background for you. I was already employed with my current employer, and I was given the responsibility of internal comms for the business despite having no previous experience in this area (talk about being thrown in at the deep end!). After a few weeks of stumbling around trying to find my way, it was agreed that I would enrol on the PR and Communications Assistant apprenticeship, which I started in February 2022.
My first tip – don’t expect your journey to be plain sailing at all times because honestly, that’s an unrealistic expectation. There will be highs and lows in your journey. As I was just starting out in my communications journey and also had no PR experience under my belt, I found the first few months of the apprenticeship fairly challenging. Nevertheless, I stuck with it and I’m so glad that I did. Looking back at where I was in February 2022, and now where I am in November 2022, in such a short space of time I have grown so much as a person, both in my professional and personal life, thanks to this opportunity.
I have gained skills I didn’t think I would have, especially in just 9 months. Additionally, I am a lot more confident, and this apprenticeship has opened up so many opportunities for me and has shaped my job role to what it is today.
Try and attend all of your monthly seminars as you get so much out of them, especially learning alongside your peers. Questions might be asked which you won’t have thought of, and it can open a whole discussion point. I understand that life may get in the way sometimes and you have no choice but to skip it. If that does happen, try, and catch up as soon as you can as there’s nothing worse than being behind! To make it easier, when catching up break the seminar up into a couple of hours when rewatching, just to make sure your concentration levels don’t dip.
Speaking of getting behind, try and stay on top of all of your tasks on One File. It’s so easy to miss a deadline but the assignments soon build up and it can start to feel very overwhelming! But, if you have no outstanding assignments, it is definitely a feeling of accomplishment.
Try and be prepared for your monthly skills coaching sessions to really make the most out of your 1 hour each month. And, if you feel like you need it, ask your skills coach for another session before your next scheduled one. Everyone at JGA is there to help you get your qualification so make the most of it!
Finally, enjoy the process. It will be over before you know it. Don’t forget to take time to reflect on how far you’ve come because you might surprise yourself!