It’s Scottish Apprentice Week and what better way to celebrate than to showcase just a few of our apprentices, past and present, as we enter into our 62nd year in business here in Scotland. Each day this week, we will be introducing you to a member of the Starrett team that has or is currently undertaking an apprenticeship, and they’ll be sharing their story.
Name – Chay
Age – 24
Current job title – Digital Marketing Specialist
Length of service – 5 years
Apprenticeship completed – Digital Marketing
The benefits of taking on this apprenticeship were being able to learn new skills that directly related to the work I was involved in here at Starrett. The program was really interesting, I enjoyed almost every aspect of the course and felt like I was constantly learning new things that could immediately benefit my day to day work at Starrett. I would highly recommend an apprenticeship. It’s a great way to learn new worthwhile skills while earning a living!
Apprenticeship undertaking – Modern Apprenticeship (NC, HNC, PEO, SVQ 2 and 3)
Ability to earn and learn.
A career with very good opportunities in the future.
Learning hands on and gaining experience in the trade.
Experienced co-workers to get assistance from when unsure.
The program has been interesting from start to finish, always learning.
College was good fun attending with apprentices from different companies.
Research the type of engineering you think you might be interested in. There are lots of different types of disciplines focussing on different aspects.
Not all engineering is hands on fixing equipment, some engineers focus on improving process’ in production so have a think what you would be best suited too.
Stick in at maths at school because that is the majority of the HNC and any course beyond.
Apprenticeship undertaking – SCQF Level 6 Business and Admin
The benefits of completing an apprenticeships is that you work and learn while still getting paid. Apprenticeship will be commencing early March which I am looking forward to getting started. I would say to take the opportunity, you are able to gain qualifications while you earn money to pay your way at the same time.
Current job title – Marketing and Business Coordinator
Length of service – 2 years
Apprenticeship undertaking – Digital Marketing
I left school with no idea what I wanted to do – I eventually went college to study art and discovered I have a flare for digital design. I pursued this in the Scottish Borders by going on to study graphic design and communications at the university.
This opened up a lot of doors for me as the skills I was learning were transferable into a lot of industries. I explored this for two years at a variety of small and medium sized businesses and then eventually landed my position at Starrett, that now allows me to travel the world, work with lots of exciting businesses and control my own work agenda.
But lets face it, when your in the business of marketing, nothing stays the same for very long. Even though I have completed my initial education journey, there is always something new and exciting happening in the industry that needs to be explored if you are going to stay at the top of your game.
By being able to study while I work, I can excel in my industry with all the latest technologies and training available, while also being able to refer back to the experience I have gained in the job itself.
My advice: You don’t need to take the fast track to the finish line, the scenic route is always more interesting and it’s never too late to explore something new.
