Jack joined us at the end of 2021. As he is entering the final stage of his Digital Marketing Apprenticeship, he is well placed to discuss how he has found this style of employment! Let’s see what he has to say…

“Since beginning my journey with Skyhook and Baltic Apprenticeships, I have grown tremendously, both personally and professionally. I feel choosing this route was the best decision I ever made! Prior to starting my time here, I had a real interest in Digital Marketing and could see myself growing in this kind of role. However, the big problem (which so many face) was now one I had to tackle. How do I get my foot in the door? I knew I needed more tutoring before I could consider myself competent in a role of this kind, but University was never a path I wanted to walk. I have always learned best by completing tasks and analysing ways I can improve. Therefore an apprenticeship was perfect! I would be given the time to develop my skills in the role with my employer, while receiving high quality training which was specialised for Digital Marketing. 

I have always loved gaming, so imagine the look on my face when I was offered the job here at Skyhook! From the moment I knew I was starting, I knew I had just had a crazy moment of luck. I’ve got the job role I was after and I’m working for a Video Game Developer – couldn’t have gone better. While I still can’t quite believe how fortunate I was, this is what has pushed me even further to make progress. A massive factor was the trust that everyone at Skyhook had with me. I wasn’t thrown in at the deep end at all. Whenever I was given more responsibilities I always felt ready for it. I viewed it as a chance to prove to the company, and myself, that I deserve to be here. I recently completed a Skills Scan, which I first filled out at the start of my apprenticeship with my Learning Mentor at Baltic Apprenticeships. As I was new, naturally my level of competence was fairly low in most areas. After completing the full course 12 months later, we went through the same document. In every area I declared myself as either fully competent or competent. I’m usually quite negative minded in assessing my own abilities, but I believed in how much progress I made and my mentor agreed! 

*Jack’s the one without the glasses*

The training I was provided from Baltic was excellent! I completed four technical training weeks which helped me enormously. I have found myself using those skills frequently. Looking back, what helped me the most was my off the job training hours. This is time which is set aside for independent learning. I am given a target of a certain number of hours and a deadline from my mentor, but I can choose what I focus this time on. This gave me the chance to zone in on areas where I needed improvement the most. We all pick up knowledge at different rates and some bits stick quicker than others. Exposing the weak points and putting in the effort to iron them out has been massive for me. Rachael (my learning mentor), has been brilliant! Whenever I have been completing tasks set by Baltic, I have always felt fully supported. The times I have felt stuck or a little overwhelmed, Rachael has been on hand to help or reassure me that I’m doing well. Having her on the other end of the phone or an email away has definitely boosted my confidence! Her advice has always been composed, for example, if I have been overthinking a task she always provided clarity and dealt with any problems in such a calm manner. The feedback I received on all of my work has been spot on. The areas which needed correction were clearly explained and has left me feeling very proud of each piece of work I have submitted. Again, upon reflection, her mentoring has been extremely valuable! I can’t thank her enough for her support!

For anyone who may be considering an apprenticeship, I highly recommend it. Not only does it get you into a job, but being able to learn through experience and having tutoring through a training provider puts you in such a great position to maximise your potential. Through hard work and dedication it may lead to full time employment beyond the apprenticeship, this has been the case for me! I was over the moon when I found out Skyhook wanted to keep me on after I receive my grade. I settled in here very quickly, and I was never under any doubt that I wanted to be here for the long run. Skyhook is a fantastic company to work for. My growth is far from complete but in truth, it never stops. The experience of being an apprentice has given me such a solid platform that I can use to grow over the course of my career!”