What to expect from your employer
September has arrived, meaning the new academic year is underway. Whether you’re staying on to study A-Levels, moving into full-time employment or starting an apprenticeship, it’s an exciting time. It’s probably the most important stage of your life so far. If you’re starting an apprenticeship for the first time, you might be wondering what to expect from your employer. We have gathered some advice together for what you should expect during your apprenticeship…
Providing Support
When studying, you will work closely with your training provider on the theoretical side. Alongside this, your employer will provide a further level of support in the workplace to ensure you’re happy with progress and how things are going.
Your employer may assign a workplace mentor or buddy to support you. This support can be in many different areas, from sharing industry knowledge or answering questions you might have regarding general day-to-day activities, to answering any more technical questions or helping you to integrate into your team.
Creating real-life situations
It’s important that your employer creates real-life situations as part of your development. They should assign real tasks and responsibilities to you which support the business operations, these are designed to challenge you and develop your skills.
These real-life working situations will provide you with the best opportunities to enhance your skillset alongside broadening industry knowledge. This is great for you and your employer as you’re able to perform tasks more efficiently alongside learning new skills.
Actively engage You
It’s important for everyone to be engaged, particularly your employer. They will hopefully take time to understand your training programme and show an interest in its content. This will help them better understand the specific topics you are covering and potentially be able to offer some assistance or guidance to you. With an engaged employer, you will develop a wider range of skills quicker, broaden your industry knowledge and see higher productivity levels. Engagement is essential!
Opportunities to build your experience
Your level of experience depends on your background. But as most young people have just left school, they can be inexperienced in their chosen apprenticeship. That’s why it’s so important for your employer to create opportunities to build your experience.
You may be given opportunities to explore different areas of the business and develop a wealth of experience across the board as part of your development.
In summary, what does all this mean?
To deliver on your expectations, it’s important for your employer to understand what you’re looking to achieve throughout the apprenticeship. Whether it’s broadening industry knowledge, specialising in a particular area of the business or just enhancing your experience and skills, your employer needs to know.
This way, they can tailor their approach and provide the right level of support in the areas you need it most. If adequate support is provided, an apprenticeship offers a fantastic opportunity for a fruitful relationship to blossom between you and your employer.
For more useful information on all areas of apprenticeships, follow us on Instagram or like our Facebook. Let us know how your course is going and share your experiences with other young people starting out. Good luck with your apprenticeship!
