Apprenticeship or University

A bit about me:

Hi, my name is Rhys Payne and I am a Digital Marketing Account Executive at Flourish PR. Alongside my work, I am completing a digital marketing apprenticeship with QA. My favourite things in life are travelling, tech and exotic cars. PS Up the Chels!

Why did I choose an apprenticeship over university?

I’ve never really liked the idea of university. When making difficult decisions I like to try and break things down into their most basic forms and then weigh up the pros and cons. The way I looked at this decision was: University cons - pay a ridiculous amount of money, spend 3+ years not earning any money, not gain any working experience, spend the rest of my life in debt. University pros – get a shiny degree, learn a lot. Apprenticeship cons – lower salary, stereotype of lower amount of respect. Apprenticeship pros – Earning while learning, no cost, gaining working experience, learning technical as well as personal skills. The only roles that would make me consider university are the specialist roles like doctors, scientists, lawyers etc. as the theory needs to be drilled into them for years because of its complexity and enormity. Of course, this is just my opinion and many people will disagree.

Why did I choose Digital Marketing as a career?

Firstly, I wanted a career that I knew I would enjoy. You spend a third of your life working and I didn’t want that to be spent in misery. Digital marketing is great for me as it allows me to use a very wide range of skills and it is a constantly changing role with no two days the same. I also quite like the management and organisational side that comes with it. Thankfully, I have freelanced for a few years in digital marketing, from the age of 17, so managed to get a taste of it before deciding on pursing it as a career.

What made me choose the QA apprenticeship course?

The very first two things that stood out to me were the duration of the course and the format. I always saw apprenticeships as 3+ years long where I would have to travel to some distant college once a week where I wouldn’t know anyone there. Instead, the QA course was only 15 months in length and all the theory was done virtually from home. This made my decision a lot easier.

What do I wish to achieve from this apprenticeship?

I aim for this apprenticeship to kickstart my future. I am determined to learn everything I can learn and gain every bit of experience possible to help solidify a successful future for myself.

What is the best thing about being an apprentice for Flourish PR?

The best thing about being an apprentice at Flourish PR is that there isn’t a whiff of the stigma that the apprentice gets treated as beneath everyone else and is only the coffee fetcher. This was something I was worried about when deciding to become an apprentice but, thankfully, it hasn’t been the case here. Since day one I have been treated with the upmost respect and am included in every conversation and decision, making me feel just as valuable as anyone else at the company.

Thank you for reading my piece and I hope to work with you in the future!