Banner Blog

It's been a little over twelve months since Victoria started her Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship with Banner. Read her interview here. 

Which College are you completing your Apprenticeship through and how did you choose the provider?

Originally I was completing my A Levels at New College Swindon, so I already had experience and was familiar with the areas of the College. After struggling to keep on top of my A Levels, someone suggested I investigate Apprenticeships.

At first my main priority was to find an Apprenticeship in something that I wanted to do across all  providers in my local area. The Apprenticeship I found was not only something I was interested in, but with New College, which made me want to get the Apprenticeship more as it was somewhere that I was familiar with, rather than somewhere new.

What do you like about your Apprenticeship?

There are many things I like about my Apprenticeship; its creative, I have a lot of freedom with the assets I create and it’s flexible. I can create everything from website pages to a blog, as well as give my input on pages/projects that other members of the team are working on. As well as this, my team are always there to support me and are always willing to test new ideas I come up with.

I also enjoy the flexibility of attending college one day a week. Sometimes, whether it is because the tutor can’t make it, or the college is on holiday for a day I won’t miss out on classes as my Manager is always willing to accommodate my learning time.

What tasks does your apprenticeship role involve?

There are a lot of tasks that I complete as part of my daily role. This spans from easy tasks such as collating charity and training hours from members of the business and sending out customer satisfaction surveys, to creating website pages and microsites.

When I first started I was doing small tasks to help gain my confidence, this was mainly learning how to use our CRM tool HubSpot; however as I have grown in confidence across the past year I have been given bigger task and projects such as overseeing Banner’s Bi-Monthly Digital Newsletter B News, designing, creating and mailing out B Procurement Magazine (Banners quarterly magazine) and even now designing and building a microsite for a new product range.

The more responsibility I have the more confidence I have in my job role and makes me feel like a bigger part of the team.

Are there any particular opportunities/experiences you’ve enjoyed that you maybe wouldn’t have had the chance to do if you weren’t studying for an apprenticeship?

I am a very practical learner, which is why I am enjoying my Apprenticeship so much. The A Levels that I’d chosen weren’t practical subjects, so I wouldn’t have gotten the experience to study and learn on the job, if not for my apprenticeship.

An Apprenticeship can give you a fast track into employment - I’ll not only have a qualification, but I’ll also have on the job experience once I’ve completed the Apprenticeship.

Would you recommend an apprenticeship to others? If so why?

I would definitely recommend an Apprenticeship to anyone, especially those who are more practical learners or those who just aren’t enjoying where they currently are.

It is such a unique experience of working in either an office or on a site, as well as studying and being able to complete a qualification at the same time. It is also a once in a lifetime kind of experience, not many people get the opportunity at the age of 16-18 to have a full-time job in areas such as marketing, which is why I think it is such an amazing opportunity. It may be hard work, but the hard work is worth the outcome.

What do you plan to do after your apprenticeship?

I plan to stay in Digital Marketing. Marketing is something I enjoy doing and is something I want to continue doing after my Apprenticeship ends.