INSPIRING APPRENTICES – ALEX

By Ania Stanisz 

“If you can tell someone that you work at Oxford University, it’s quite a cool thing to say.”

Alex started her Apprenticeship in January, having graduated from the City of Oxford College and passed her A-levels. She’s doing Level 2 Diploma & Level 3 Diploma in Business and Administration at the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.

We visited her today and here’s what she says about her Apprenticeship!

If you’re considering an alternative to Uni, an Apprenticeship is the route to take! Alex didn’t want to go to Uni, because she didn’t know precisely what route she wanted to go down career-wise. But it was difficult for her to find a job because she didn’t have any experience. “My dad always said: ‘Go for an Apprenticeship, because you’ll gain qualification as well as your job. Maybe the money will be less, but in the long run you’re going to get more stuff out of it’”.

Deciding on an Apprenticeship may require not looking to other people. “I’m the only one in my friendship group that is an Apprentice.” But you can get a lot in return: “I think you get a satisfaction when you do a job well and you get a praise for it. Just self-achievement as well and knowing that you’ve done something well.”

Worried it may be stiff and scary? Not at all! “I expected that it would be so professional and proper, but in fact everyone’s so laid back in here. We have a lot of laughs and everyone at the whole University is just so nice”.