To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week we have joined in by asking our learners to share their apprenticeship journey. As the theme this year is ‘Look Beyond’ we are aiming to celebrate the diversity of opportunity and value that they bring to individuals.

In this case study Thomas Kirkham explains what encouraged him to apply for an apprenticeship and how the training has progressed his career. Thomas is currently completing his Level 3 Construction Apprenticeship with JN Bentley and is due to complete in just a few months!

This is what Thomas has to say about his apprenticeship experience:

Who or what inspired you to become an apprentice?
Whilst I was still in college I was working a McDonald's. I had just bought my first car, a 2003 VW Polo. I was on a shift and a young lad pulled up at the window, he must have been 19 maybe 20, but he was in a brand new BMW 320. When I get back home I told my dad and I joked that "his dad must have bought the car", to which my dad said, "or maybe he's doing an apprenticeship". Not long after that I was having an over the phone interview for JN Bentley. 14 months into the apprenticeship I went to a Toyota dealership and bought a gt86. but that wasn't my second car... it is my fourth.
What was the biggest factor in making you decide to do an apprenticeship?
I realised that I could either work at McDonalds and go to university whilst building up tens of thousands of pounds in debt, or I could join an apprenticeship and learn to do a needed and respected trade whilst earning more than I could in McDonalds.
Describe a typical day at work
I' usually arrive at around 8:30, go to my desk and set up my laptop. From there it’s just a case of working with my mentor and other employees and playing my part in completing projects for UU in the best way possible. Of course there is an hour at 12 where I have my lunch and talk to friends I've made. By 5 I have completed as much as I can do in the day and I go home.
What do you enjoy most about your role, and why?
I enjoy the fact I am creating things. In most learning roles, college, university, etc… you are working in "pretend". But I get to learn about my job and every time I complete some work I then get to watch the hard work become a reality, not just a grade.

How do you think an apprenticeship has improved or opened up your career options?
It has opened up my career most definitely. When I've been though my level 3 through to 6 I will have the same level of knowledge as someone leaving university. But I will also have around 6-8 years of experience in the trade, and when my trade can be applied all over the country in every engineering sector my prospects are much better than that of a university graduate that may know the facts and figures but will have almost no experience of the pressure and hardships of applying the knowledge.
What advice would you give to other people considering an apprenticeship as a route?
Don't waste your chances. The level of learning and work experience is second to non, if you try and just complete the course just in the college lessons you will only pass by the "skin of your teeth". And taking chances like that is a shore way to ensure that you don't pass. Remember, you're not in high school or college anymore, you are working to prove that you are good enough to become a key part of the industry.

Apprentice Insight - Thomas Kirkham