Apprenticeships

What is inside

1. 1

   Which level, and what you end up with

   Levels 3 to 7 are different jobs, different entry requirements and different competition.

   • Level 3 at sixteen or eighteen, and what it is worth on a CV afterwards
   • Levels 4 and 5, the higher apprenticeships most people have never heard of
   • Levels 6 and 7, earning while you study for a degree or a masters
   • Entry requirements at each level, and what to do if you are a grade short
   • Pay, hours, off the job training time, and what the contract actually commits you to
2. 2

   Finding them, and when to apply

   Most are missed because people look in the wrong place at the wrong time of year.

   • The government Find an apprenticeship service, and setting up alerts properly
   • Big employer schemes that advertise on their own site and nowhere else
   • Training providers and colleges, and why they often know first
   • When each level opens: level 3 runs most of the year, levels 6 and 7 close early
   • A tracker so you are not applying to the same employer twice by accident
3. 3

   Your CV

   Built for employers who want reliability and evidence you will turn up and learn.

   • One page, written for someone who will skim it in twenty seconds
   • What to put down when school is most of what you have
   • Part time work, sport, clubs and caring responsibilities as real evidence
   • The difference between a level 3 CV and a level 7 one
4. 4

   Your application and personal statement

   Most apprenticeship applications are a form with a few boxes that decide everything.

   • Answering why this employer, when you have ten applications open
   • Why this industry, without saying you have always been passionate about it
   • Writing to a word limit, with a worked example before and after
   • Reusing a strong answer across applications without sounding copied
5. 5

   Online assessments

   Tests, situational judgement and recorded answers, usually before a human sees you.

   • Numerical, verbal and logical tests, and the practice that moves your score
   • Situational judgement questions, and what the right answer tends to look like
   • Recorded video answers: setup, timing and what to do with your hands
   • What happens if you fail one, and when you can sit it again
6. 6

   Interviews

   Often with the manager you would actually work for, so they are practical.

   • The questions that come up at every level, and the ones specific to yours
   • Talking about school results honestly, good or bad
   • Showing you understand what the job involves day to day
   • Questions worth asking about training, mentoring and what happens at the end
7. 7

   Assessment centres and the later stages

   Levels 6 and 7 usually add a day of group tasks, presentations and exercises.

   • What a day runs like, and what assessors are marking
   • Group exercises without talking over everyone or disappearing
   • Presentations and written exercises you get an hour to prepare
   • Practical and technical tasks on engineering and trade schemes
8. 8

   Make yourself stand out

   Proof beats promises, and almost nobody bothers with this part.

   • Small projects and certificates that take a weekend and show initiative
   • Visiting, calling or asking questions before you apply
   • Talking to someone already on the apprenticeship you want
   • What to do with the months between applying and starting
9. 9

   After the interview

   Finish the process properly, whichever way it goes.

   • The follow up message, and when to send it
   • Asking for feedback in a way that gets a real answer
   • Comparing two offers, including pay, training and where it leads
   • Reapplying next cycle without sending the same application again