You may have seen Jacob’s story on Wannabe before as we had a short case study about his apprenticeship at Trinity Health where he spoke about how much he enjoyed the apprenticeship and the skills he was learning through working as he studied.

We recently caught up with Jacob to hear more about his career path since then. Read what he said below…

Current role: Account Executive – Trinity Mirror
Apprenticeship scheme: Level 2 Business Administration – Trinity Health NHS

‘After my GCSEs I stayed at my school for the first year of sixth form but after not getting the results I needed to progress I decided to leave to look for an apprenticeship.

I applied for numerous roles and was fortunate to be offered one local to my home in Long Crendon at Trinity Health NHS Surgeries in September 2011.  The apprenticeship was as an IT/Business Administrator and the qualification I studied towards was an NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration.

After completing the apprenticeship a year later they offered me an improved full time contract and the role of IT Systems Administrator. I had to learn quickly going from school into the full time office work, but it was great to be earning money, studying and getting invaluable workplace experience at the same time.

After spending 2 years at Trinity Health I decided to move to London having been able to secure a place on a Business Management Higher National Certificate course at South Thames College in Wandsworth.

Although this was a Level 4 course and I only had Level 2, I was able to use the 2 years industry experience I had to help get a place on the course. Another great example of how apprenticeships can help young people down the line in ways they may not expect.

After completing the HNC I decided I would look at doing Level 5/6 at university to get my degree. A few months later in September 2014 I started direct into the second year of an International Business Bsc degree at the University of Greenwich.

During this time I had a number of part time jobs in London as a student including at Fulham Football Club, Thames Clippers and as a Telephone Market Researcher working out of a call centre in London Bridge. I was helped in getting all these opportunities by the experience I had from the apprenticeship.

I graduated from the University of Greenwich with First Class Hons, and immediately started working for Trinity Mirror – which is where I am now.

Trinity Mirror is the UKs largest newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. My job involves managing a group of agency and client direct accounts selling print and digital advertising across all our titles. In terms of where I see myself in 10 years, I hope to continue in the media industry and work my way up into a senior management position.

Looking back, had I not done the apprenticeship I can’t see myself getting to where I am now so quickly. For me I got to a point where I was someone who wasn’t motivated by school anymore and I knew I wanted to do something else. I didn’t realise at the time (mostly because we weren’t told) that different opportunities and pathways existed. I hope this case study can help bring that to light a little more.’

In 5 years time…

Jacob aims for 5 years time from now is to be further up the ladder in his career, progressing in to a managerial position still working in media. His past experiences have meant he is looking to take on more responsibility although still be young in the industry, and looking after larger accounts which come with a better wage and an even more challenging role.

Summary

With Jacob’s career path being very different to what people normally expect when they leave school it is a great example of careers in the 21st century, since people now do not leave school in to a job that they then do until they retire. More and more people are working in many different companies and roles before settling on the career they want, which is exactly what Jacob did. However in his case he has also decided to undertake an apprenticeship which gave him a wealth of life and work skills that then served him well when he looked to progress in his career and his studies.

The apprenticeship was a chance for Jacob at 17 years old to grow in maturity by being in an office environment that required him to act professionally. This professionalism that he learn through his apprenticeship was a major help in the process of furthering his career by preparing him for interviews and meetings.
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