Introduction to Degree Apprenticeships
What is a Degree Apprenticeship?
As the name suggests this is when you do an apprenticeship and a degree at the same time. Most of the time this will be structured as you working full time with a company 4 days a week, and one day will be spent at a University or College studying for your degree. Majority of companies will have 4 year courses, some will have you spend your first year studying in a local college for you to develop the foundation knowledge of your course. Then the next three years will be spent 4 days a week working and the fifth at University.
Pay
Salaries of degree apprenticeships can vary quite a lot. Degree apprentices can expect to start on around £20,000+, with companies such as Jaguar and Land Rover starting at £24,000, Rolls Royce starting on £20,000 and Bentley £23,000 (these are approximations, they vary each year). However each year your salary will increase, given you perform to standards. In future articles I will go into more detail on salaries. Along with this salary your student tuition fees will be paid for you. This will save you around £28,000 which current Bachelor courses will cost you. So in summary, you will be paid a reasonable salary and also be debt free from a student loan that other students will face.
Experience
I personally believe the biggest benefit of doing a degree apprenticeship is the experience you gain in the workplace. By the time you finish you will have gained 3-5 years of experience in a company working, pretty much, full time. This is invaluable to employers. A lot of employers do not like employing graduates as the company do not know how they will perform, where-as if the student has 3-5 years of work expeience and the degree they will be eager to hire you. A lot of the time the company who has hired you as a degree apprentice will want to offer you a job as they have invested in you and your skills and they’ve known you for 3-5 years.
Where do you find openings?
Company websites
Direct search “_____ degree apprenticeships”
https://www.gradcracker.com/
https://uk.indeed.com/
Email or visit a company and ask them personally, this can set you apart from other applicants. Even if they weren’t taking on any apprenticeships, they may now rethink that.
How to apply?
After finding a job opening there will be a link to the application form. There are usually 3 stages of application. Online application, Online Assesment and assesment centre. I will soon write an article detailing all about the application process but here are the main tips
Research about the company!!!!!
Find out their aims for the future (find these on websites/news articles).
Find out what they value in employees (Find on company website).
Write a proffesional CV/Cover letter.
That is the introduction to degree apprenticeships. In the coming months I will write detailed articles about each of the main titles found above, but this should give you a good overview of what you need to know. Make sure to keep up-to-date with me for when I post these future articles. Thank you for reading.
Please consider subscribing and sharing to a friend, any comments are appreciated and I will respond.