Apprenticeships UK

Level 3 Advanced Carpentry and Joinery Apprenticeship

by
Level 3 Advanced Carpentry and Joinery Apprenticeship using a woodworking machine

If you’ve got a knack for working with wood and other materials to build your own masterpieces, a Level 3 Advanced Carpentry and Joinery apprenticeship is the perfect way to start a new career.

There is a growing demand carpenters and joiners within the industry, to help meet the need for new homes. So now is the best time to start!

If you enjoy taking the lead within projects, and using your unique skills to guide others to meet the needs of a client, this is the career path for you.

Want to know where to start? Read on.

Level 3 Advanced Carpentry and Joinery Apprenticeship entry requirements

To become a level 3 advanced Carpentry and Joinery apprentice, it is recommended that you take the Level 2 Carpentry and Joinery course prior to taking this course.

However, this depends on your employer, and if you have the right skills and experience already, this may not be necessary!

You’ll have the chance to work both independently and alongside others, with many opportunities for career growth and progression as you refine your skills to become a specialist.

What does a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship involve?

On a day-to-day basis, a carpentry and joinery apprentice’s key responsibilities are to work with wood and other building materials to create components for buildings. No two days will ever be the same, as your unique skills and knowledge will be essential for producing a range of custom components on a variety of projects.

Items that you will be responsible for producing and installing can range from windows and doors, even to staircases, floor joists and roofs.

It is essential that all work is completed to industry standards, following all the relevant safety regulations.

Within this apprenticeship, you’ll decide whether you’d like to become a specialist in either carpentry or joinery, which have very different functions.

Carpenter vs Joiner

Advanced Site Carpenter

An Advanced Site Carpenter typically works on building sites, and is in charge of creating and installing complex and bespoke components for new houses or other structures.

Most often, a carpenter will be working on irregular or complex roof structures.

You will normally collaborate with other tradespeople on-site, such as bricklayers, plasterers and plumbers, site management and contractors.

Advanced Architectural Joiner

An Advanced Architectural Joiner will more often work inside a workshop, producing complex components that require advanced skills with woodworking machines, or working to restore or repair existing components.

You will liaise with other workshop colleagues as well as architects, designers and customers.

Working in team is essential if you want to become a carpenter or joiner. You will also have to supervise other people while using machinery and tools to create, refurbish or repair structures or components from the designs, plans and specifications of architects and designers that meet the client’s expectations.

Once you have enough experience to supervise and be responsible for others, you will be able to progress your career to the next level and become a team leader, trade foreperson, contract, or works manager.

Level 3 Advanced Carpentry and Joinery Apprenticeship cutting wood

Level 3 Carpentry and Joinery Competencies

As part of your job role, you will carry out many different duties that will satisfy a number of competencies to meet the criteria of your apprenticeship.

Core competencies

There are a number of core competencies to meet during your apprenticeship. These include:

  • Identifying requirements and planning a schedule for your work, notifying colleagues.
  • Ensure all fire doors meet legal requirements.
  • Understand technical specifications and ensure all work is completed in accordance with legislations.
  • Select the right quality and quantity of materials needed for the work.
  • Take a lead when working in a team, especially when complex or non-standard work is involved.
  • Utilise a range of advanced skills which allow them to carry out complex work
  • Communicate professionally with a high level of customer service
  • Carry out quality checks of own and others work and take action
  • Carry out pre-use checks of all tools and equipment.

You will also have to undertake some more advanced competencies for your chosen specialist area. These will be different for carpentry and joinery.

Advanced Site Carpenter duties

Additional duties that you will be responsible for if you choose to become an Advanced Site Carpenter include:

  • Install complex and non-standard doors and window frames, shaped door and hatch linings, partitions with openings and changes of direction and staircases with turns.
  • Install accessible service encasements, bespoke wall/ floor units and fitments, panelling and stair components.
  • Erect inclined roofs with gables, roof verges and eaves.
  • Repair and or replace frames, mouldings, floor or flat roof joist coverings, door and window ironmongery, window components, structural joists and rafters, window components, guttering and downpipes.

Advanced Architectural Joiner duties

Additional duties that you will be responsible for if you choose to become an Advanced Architectural Joiner include:

  • Set out complex work tasks for non-standard architectural joinery products.
  • Mark out accurately from setting out details for the manufacture of complex and shaped doors, opening windows, units and fitments and staircases.
  • Manufacture complex and shaped architectural joinery products.
  • Set up and use fixed machinery.
  • Use and maintain relevant tools and equipment required for advanced work.

Knowledge modules for Advanced Carpentry and Joinery

As well as your daily duties, you will learn some knowledge modules as an Advanced Carpentry and Joinery Apprentice, to gain the skills and knowledge required to progress in your role.

Core knowledge modules

Some of the core knowledge modules you will take as part of your course are:

  • The principles of environment, health, safety and welfare
  • The responsibilities under current legislation and official guidance to undertake the work
  • How to use health and safety control equipment
  • The different workplace signs and safety notices and their meaning
  • The principles of building construction
  • How to interpret and produce relevant information from drawings, specifications and work instructions
  • How to estimate resource quantities to carry out work
  • How to communicate and work with others effectively in the workplace
  • The characteristics, quality, uses, sustainability, limitations and defects associated with timber and timber-based products and components
  • Hand Tools : how to prepare, use, maintain and store hand tools
  • Power Tools: how to prepare, use, maintain and store power tools
  • How to plan work activities for self and others in order to meet schedules and deadlines

Again, as you will be choosing either carpentry or joinery as your specialist area, you will have to take additional knowledge modules related to the area you have chosen.

Advanced Site Carpenter additional knowledge modules

As an advanced site carpenter, you will undertake the following additional knowledge modules:

  • The different types of fixings and fasteners for site carpentry work including their uses
  • How to form advanced woodworking joints
  • How to carry out complex first fixing work
  • How to carry out complex second fixing work
  • How to carry out complex structural carcassing work
  • How to install and maintain structural and non-structural carpentry components

Advanced Architectural Joiner additional knowledge modules

As an advanced architectural joiner, you will undertake the following additional knowledge modules:

  • The characteristics, quality, uses and limitations of relevant materials
  • Component performance requirements
  • Advanced architectural joinery technology
  • How to form shaped woodworking joints
  • How to set out and mark out for shaped joinery products
  • How to manufacture and repair shaped joinery products
  • How to take site measurements and site fix joinery products
  • How to prepare and use fixed machinery to create shaped work

Other mandatory qualifications for a Carpenter or Joiner

As a carpenter or joiner, you will also take a mandatory Level 2 qualification in Fire Door Installation Awareness.

Conclusion

To conclude, an Advanced Carpentry and Joinery apprenticeship is a great option for anyone who would like a career in creating bespoke components with wood and other building materials.

You’ll be able to start your career in a growing industry, with lots of opportunity for career progression.

If you’re already working in the industry, it is a fantastic way to consolidate your knowledge and gain a qualification while working. The brilliant news is that you won’t have to pay a penny for your education, as this is covered by the apprenticeship fund.

For employers, it is an ideal way to up-skill your workforce and give your employees an opportunity for career development.

How to become a self made digital marketing expert

by
Person using the internet to become a self made digital marketing expert

If you’re wondering how to become a self made digital marketing expert, here is the perfect place to start. Read on to find out the best tips and tricks to start a successful digital marketing career.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is how you connect your brand with your customers, normally over the internet.

As more and more of our life becomes digitalised, digital marketing has taken over and there is a large demand for digital marketing everywhere. It is a great time to pick up the skill and take advantage of what digital marketing can do for your brand, or to start a career in digital marketing.

So, now you know what digital marketing is, you may be wondering how exactly to do it. Well, there are lots of new and exciting ways to get your brand out there, but let’s start with the basics.

Read on to find out how to become a self made digital marketing expert.

Types of Digital Marketing

There are many different forms and channels in digital marketing. however it mainly refers to:

  • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
  • Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
  • Content Marketing
  • Email Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing

These are the main channels a digital marketer will use to reach their goals. A self made digital marketing expert will have to master all of these areas and more to understand how to grow their brand.

All of these channels have their own individual uses and you will need to learn the proper industry standards and best practices for them.

Getting digital marketing right

The most important part in getting digital marketing right is setting clear and realistic goals. You should start any digital marketing campaign in this way. You may want to get some new leads, or more sales on your website, or you may even just want to generate some brand awareness.

Whatever it is, you should keep a record of your targets and measure your success against them.

How to improve Search Engine Optimisation

Here are five quick ways you can improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation):

  1. Publish relevant, useful content
  2. Update your website frequently
  3. Optimise metadata
  4. Build up your backlinks
  5. Use alt tags on your images

Search engine optimisation is an often overlooked part of growing your brand, however it should not be disregarded. The initial investment of creating content may be high, but it is certainly worth it.

Here are 5 ways to generate more website traffic.

How to use Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click is just that – you pay advertisers per click you get on an ad. This is most often done through Google.

This is how you set up a PPC campaign in five steps:

  1. Set your goals
  2. Choose an advertiser
  3. Select the keywords you want to bid on
  4. Set up your budgets
  5. Write your advert and create a landing page for it to link to

PPC is a much faster way of seeing your return on investment (ROI), however it can be costly. Just remember to keep your budgets small at first, until you have an idea of what works for you.

Content marketing for beginners

Content marketing is all about finding out what makes your target audience ticks, and using that to attract them to your brand. This may include articles, videos, podcasts, and other media.

Content marketing is not to be confused with SEO. SEO is the process of optimising your web pages to rank higher in the search engines, whereas content marketing is used to reach more people to connect with your brand with the use of content.

As you can see, SEO is more technical, while content marketing is more creative.

Here are 7 ways to generate more website traffic.

How to up an email marketing campaign

Email marketing has been around since the start of the internet, and is still a very effective way of reaching the right audience. Here are some tips for always creating an successful marketing campaigns:

  1. Build your mailing list
  2. Set your goals
  3. Send different email types for different purposes
  4. Segment your audience
  5. Monitor your analytics
  6. Make your opt-in attractive
  7. Always follow up
  8. Create original subject lines

An important thing to be aware of is that sometimes less is more with email marketing. It may be tempting to always send everything to your whole subscriber list, but this will quickly begin to feel spammy and won’t generate the leads you’re looking for.

Instead, personalise and tailor your content for different audience segments and it will be much better received.

Here are 5 free email marketing tools to create effective campains in 2022.

How to launch a successful social media campaign

Now it is time to launch your first social media campaign. Follow these simple steps to never fall short again.

  1. Research your competition
  2. Decide on your strategy and change it if you need to
  3. Use different types of content within a campaign
  4. Use a mix of promotional and informative content
  5. Find out what’s trending
  6. Make your content stand out
  7. Create a social media schedule

Social media is a great tool to use as a digital marketer. You have the option to set up either paid or organic campaigns, suited to any budget. But which platform should you choose?

Find out more ways to make your social media campaigns successful.

Pie chart of social media for digital marketers

Pie chart of social media

It is also important to use the right platform. Research by Statistica shows that the most popular social media platforms in 2021 were:

Most used social media platform (millions)

  1. Facebook – 2,895
  2. YouTube – 2,291
  3. WhatsApp –  2,000
  4. Instagram – 1,393
  5. Facebook Messenger – 1,300
  6. Weixin / WeChat – 1,251
  7. TikTok – 1,000
  8. Douyin – 600
  9. QQ – 591
  10. Sina Weibo – 566
  11. Telegram – 550
  12. Snapchat – 538
  13. Kuaishou – 506
  14. Pinterest – 454
  15. Twitter – 436
  16. Reddit – 430
  17. Quora – 300

Must have digital marketing tools

  • Some must-have digital marketing tools include:
  • Keyword research tool – SEMrush
  • SEO dashboard  – yourSEOmarketingreport
  • Website analytics – Google analytics
  • Email marketing tool – Campaign monitor
  • Social media scheduling tool – Loomly
  • Photo editing tools – Canva or photoshop 
  • Website tool – WordPress
  • Google data studio

These will help make your life much easier by automating certain tasks, tracking metrics or assist with content creation.

Is digital marketing a good career?

Digital Marketing a great career for anyone who is both creative and analytical.

You’ll have a lot of variation in your job. From creating social media campaigns, to PPC and display advertising, to SEO and the daily running of a website. You’ll never be bored in digital marketing.

It is important to note that you will need good english and maths skills, as the job involves a lot of analysing data and writing content. So, as long as that sounds something you’ll enjoy, digital marketing is definitely for you!

How much money does a digital marketer make?

The salary for an entry-level digital marketer, like a digital marketing assistant can range from £18,000 to £22,000.

Once you are more experienced in digital marketing, you could be earning p to £30,000 a year.

In a more senior management role, you could get up to £40,000 and more.

Level 3 digital marketing apprenticeships

The best way to start a career in digital marketing is to take a digital marketing apprenticeship. This way, you’ll be able to earn and learn, while gaining experience in digital marketing. But what does this mean?

If you take a digital marketing apprenticeship, you won’t have to pay a penny towards your learning costs, as this is covered by the apprenticeship levy. You also will get paid for full-time work while getting extra paid time to work towards your apprenticeship.

Another great thing about a digital marketing apprenticeship is that you’ll get the chance to gain valuable insight, knowledge and experience while you learn. You’ll even get a recognised qualification after you finish!

Level 6 digital marketing apprenticeships

After completing a level 3 digital marketing apprenticeship, you’ll be able to progress onto a level 6 digital marketing apprenticeship, which is actually a degree course. So, you’ll be able to gain a university-level qualification without any student debt.

After completing a level 6 digital marketing apprenticeship, the world will be your oyster, giving you unlimited opportunities for career progression – you will truly be a self made digital marketing expert.

Maritime Caterer Apprenticeship (Level 2)

by
A Maritime Caterer at work.

Have you ever dreamed about becoming a chef? Have you ever wanted to spend time seeing the world? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then a level 2 Maritime Caterer Apprenticeship could be the perfect way to kickstart an exciting and fulfilling career! This 24-month apprenticeship is designed to provide the apprentice with valuable practical work experience and a range of transferrable skills.

What is a Maritime Caterer?

A maritime caterer works as a member of the hospitality/hotel services department aboard ships and other vessels of all shapes and sizes, ensuring that the passengers and crew receive nutritious, expertly cooked meals whilst aboard. This role is more than just cooking however, a maritime caterer also handles all aspects of kitchen preparation and catering.

The skills required for a maritime caterer as follows:

  • Planning a healthy, nutritional diet for the crew and passengers, taking into account various factors such as endurance of produce and the nutritional well being of all aboard the vessel.
  • Menu costing, catering accountancy and management of records. It is important that a maritime caterer understands the importance of budgeting and the economy, taking those into account when creating their menu.
  • Storeroom preparation and management. Hygienic stock checking and stock rotation to ensure safe working practices for all aboard the vessel.
  • Be able to deliver excellent customer service and a willingness to go above and beyond when serving passengers and crew.
  • The ability to use manual and electric food preparation and equipment, as well as food preparation machinery correctly and safely. This includes the correct, safe usage of knives and other safety equipment.
  • Be able to administer emergency first aid in the event of an accident or incident.
  • Understand and use survival techniques while in the water.

On top of the skills listed above, a maritime caterer is required to work as a member of a close knit team, therefore correct and appropriate behaviour is a crucial component of what makes the team work. Consideration for fellow seafarers is a must! Being at sea can mean that emergencies happen, and you must know what to do when a situation occurs. In emergencies, apprentices are expected to follow orders immediately, safely and in a calm manner.

A cruise ship, that may be the work environment for a Maritime Caterer.

Sounds Great! What do I need to get started?

Unlike more higher level apprenticeships, a level 2 Maritime Catering apprenticeship is more within reach than you might initially realise. Whilst individual employers will determine their own selection criteria and will need to be confident in their chosen applicants character, all an apprentice needs to possess in order to undertake this course are the following:

  • Apprentices will need to be able to pass the medical entry requirements as defined in MCA regulations (i.e. the ENG14 Seafarer Medical Certificate) before starting the apprenticeship.
  • An ability to work in a multicultural environment, that may be away from home for an extended period of time.

What kind of jobs can a Maritime Caterer apprenticeship help me get?

Once you’ve completed your maritime catering apprenticeship, the world (and sea!) Is your oyster! The skills learned upon this apprenticeship are transferrable and could help you in multiple jobs. Whether you gain your sea legs and choose to go into the cruise industry, or choose to be a landlubber and work as part of a restaurant kitchen, this apprenticeship will give you a fantastic start in the catering industry.

You will be qualified for many positions, such as sous chef, commis chef, and from there you would be subject to the natural progression of a chef in training.

In conclusion.

Apprenticeships are a great way of entering your desired industry, they can lead to full time work as well as offering you a chance to gain valuable qualifications. If you would like to see what other apprenticeships are out there in the UK, the latest information can be found over on our website here.

And for businesses looking to take on a young apprentice, be sure to subscribe to our mailing list for more information about the process of hiring and the costs of doing so. Sign up HERE and make sure you don’t miss out!

3 Tips to provide excellent customer service in Digital Marketing!

by
It is important to provide excellent customer service when responding to enquiries on social media.

Digital marketing isn’t all social media and disconnected emails, in a lot of aspects of digital marketing you’ll need to deal with customers and enquiries directly, so when dealing with customers you’ll need to ensure that you provide excellent customer service. As an apprentice in Digital Marketing, you’ll be exposed to all kinds of new skills and tools that will be used in your day to day work life, but it is very important to remember that you’re marketing to people! Even when creating digital marketing campaigns, the customer needs to be at the forefront and center of every decision you make.

Whether you’re responding to social media enquiries, or creating a targeted email campaign, this post will tell you everything you need to consider to provide excellent customer service. Here are 3 quick top tips to keep your customers happy and provide excellent customer service:

Responding to social media enquiries is a crucial part of Digital Marketing

1- Provide excellent customer service by using timely responses:

Firstly, nobody likes being kept waiting for hours for a response! The simplest, most effective way to keep your customers happy and engaged is to respond to enquiries in a timely manner. This will go a very long way to ensuring a good brand reputation, maximising the probability that any enquiry can be resolved in a positive way for both parties. It sounds like a simple answer really! But you’d be surprised to see just how many companies leave potential transactions pending, un-responded to in the comment sections. Responding to these enquiries is the first step to increasing your sales and cultivating a happy, loyal customer base!

However, it is extremely important that your responses cover everything the customer asks. So before you type up a hasty incomplete reply, make sure you’ve answered everything that the customer enquiries about. Take a couple more minutes to carefully re-read over their enquiry and source the answer to their enquiries. This can be the thing that turns an unsatisfied customer into a potential customer!

2- Provide excellent customer service by tailoring your reply to the individual!

There is a fine line between having a blanket social media policy, and coming across like an un-personable robot. While it is important to have consistent policies to ensure a certain level of quality, it is also important that the customer feels like a human has dealt with their enquiry. Certain policies can get in the way of the level of service that a customer receives. Make sure that your policy is adaptable so that every enquiry can be resolved adequately.

Copy/Pasted replies can provide a quick, effective way to communicate an acknowledgement of their initial enquiry. But after that point they can prove to be frustrating and unhelpful to the customer. They can make the customer feel alienated and unimportant. Applying a little bit of a human touch is sometimes all a response needs to leave a customer completely satisfied.

Be proactive with your responses! Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile in order to ensure the best level of customer service possible.

3- Provide excellent customer service by allowing customers to follow up on their enquiry if needed.

For some customers, a simple social media response isn’t enough to satisfy their enquiry. Sometimes a customer would like the opportunity to follow up on their enquiry and take further action to escalate it. In these instances, it is imperative that you give them the opportunity to do so.

A follow up can be anything! From asking for the opportunity to make a purchase (in which case, use an obvious call to action. It’s the perfect way to encourage them to make a purchase.) All the way to wanting to speak to management to make a complaint. So using the appropriate tone in your response is very important.

In conclusion!

Digital Marketing is a fluid, adaptive skill. Being able to tinker with your formula and add a bit of a personal touch can be the difference between a good digital marketer and a bad one. If you apply these 3 tips in every enquiry you receive, then you’ll be sure to have a business that prides itself on providing excellent customer service!

If you’d like to stay up to date with all the best Digital Marketing tips and tricks, sign up to our mailing list! We post extra content that we’re sure you’ll enjoy! And for more content on digital marketing, check out our blog section!

Top 3 Tips To Kickstart Your Career In Digital Marketing

by

Do you have no experience and want to learn what digital marketing is and how you can get a job role in this industry? After reading these three tips you will be on your way to landing your dream job in digital marketing.

Tip #1 Gain experience and certificates from free online courses

Google Garage offers many free online courses that can help you understand what digital marketing is and gain experience using digital marketing platforms and tools. Some courses reward you with a certificate upon completion which you can add to your CV, this can get you ahead of the competition as your potential employer can see you are a self-starter and keen to learn more about digital marketing. These courses among many others can give you a great advantage when it comes to securing a job in digital marketing:

LinkedIn, jobs

Tip #2 Updating your online presence

Landing a job in digital marketing isn’t easy as it is a highly competitive job market. Updating your online presence on LinkedIn is by far the best way to secure more interviews. Making sure you have a professional profile picture and up to date profile with all previous work experience will give recruiters a much easier time to pick you when they are looking for employees. Make sure to add your certificates from the online courses above.

Tip #3 Work experience

A good way to start gaining real work experience is to start an internship or an apprenticeship in digital marketing. It will teach you the roles and responsibilities that digital marketers have and it could lead to a full time job offer after completion. Another way to gain experience is to start your own projects. Creating and managing social media platforms is a great way to gain experience in social media marketing and it will show your potential employer how create and passionate you are about marketing.

Conclusion

The opportunities of securing a digital marketing role are increasing as there are more remote jobs due to the pandemic, lots of employers are looking for new candidates to help them grow their business online, it’s a perfect time to start your career in tech. If you are looking to start your career in digital marketing, make sure you follow these three steps to help you understand what different roles and responsibilities you can have in a digital marketing role and land your dream job. If you want to learn more about digital marketing make sure to sign up to receive more insights on digital marketing.

Find our insights on different types of apprenticeships here
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Flickr

Level 3 Hospitality Manager Apprenticeship

by

Details of standard

Hospitality managers work across a huge variety of organisations including bars, restaurants, cafés, conference centres, banqueting venues, hotels and contract caterers. These managers generally specialise in a particular area, however their core knowledge, skills and behaviours are aligned. Common to all managers in this role is their passion for exceeding customers’ expectations. Hospitality managers have a high level of responsibility and are accountable for fulfilling the business vision and objectives which requires excellent business, people and customer relation skills. Individuals in this role are highly motivated team leaders that combine a talent for management and specific industry skills and thrive on the customer facing nature of the role.

Specialist management functions

Conference & Events Management, Food & Beverage Service Management, Front Office Management, Hospitality Outlet Management, House Keeping Management, Kitchen Management, Multi-functional Management, Revenue Management.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements, but individuals should have had supervisory responsibility in order to start on this apprenticeship.

Duration

Based on the entry requirements set by the employer the minimum duration for this apprenticeship is 12, but will typically be 18, months to complete.

Level

This apprenticeship standard is set at level 4.

Renewal

March 2018, unless there is evidence of significant industry change which employers agree warrants earlier amendment.

Is the Level 2 Recruitment Resourcer apprenticeship right for you?

by

You’re naturally outgoing and work well under pressure. You’re not drawn to any particular industry. You just know you want to work with people. Sound about right? Then the Level 2 Recruitment Resourcer apprenticeship could be perfect for you.

Working in recruitment allows you to meet a huge variety of people – and challenge yourself to figure out how to match candidates with roles and managers.

Recruiters can either work for a specific company to recruit for all sections of the business, or for recruitment agencies where they might specialise in a certain sector.

What does a Recruitment Resourcer do?

  • Shortlist candidates for any given role, including researching, identifying and contacting them.
  • Communicate any business opportunities to a recruiter.
  • Adhere to legislation and carry out relevant processes in accordance with industry best practice and codes of ethics.

Do I have the skills for the Recruitment Resourcer role?

There are three main skill areas which are important:

Communication

  • Good listening and asking the right questions
  • Customer focused attitude – emphasis on ethical decision making

Organisation

  • Ability to prioritise tasks
  • Attention to detail
  • Self motivated – can work to a deadline

Attitude

  • Resilient – able to work under pressure
  • Able to make decisions and escalate where necessary
  • Ambitious and driven

What will I learn on this apprenticeship?

We’ve established that you have the core skills which you can build on as you learn. Some of those things might come more naturally than others, but that’s why you’re learning on the job!

Each aspect of the apprenticeship will add to your knowledge. But what exactly will you be learning?

The highlights include:

  • The attraction and selection process for suitable candidates
  • Recruitment sales techniques
  • How to assess a candidate using Key Performance Indicators
  • How to build relationships with candidates and how to maintain them
  • Various research methods, including quantitative and qualitative
  • The principles of recruitment models and how they operate in the industry
  • Employee rights and responsibilities – emphasis on equality, diversity and inclusion

The more technical skills include:

  • Write adverts, as well as place them, according to company procedures
  • Manage and develop candidate relationships
  • Identify and progress any leads for potential candidates
  • Support candidates with any enquiries
  • Provide feedback in a professional way
  • Record candidate and client information accurately using the recruitment database
  • Screen applications and ensure they are processed properly

The wonderful thing about an apprenticeship is that you can start to put your skills to use immediately. You could learn the theory of relationship management one week, and the next you’ll be building a professional bond with a candidate.

What happens after the apprenticeship?

You have two options – a higher level apprenticeship, or a job. If you fit in really well with your company, you might want to apply for a permanent job with them. However, if you were to complete a level 3 apprenticeship in recruitment consultancy, you would be eligible for registration at the Institute of Recruitment Professionals or Institute of Recruiters. Find out more about what that means here.

Recruitment Resourcer Apprenticeship FAQs

How much do recruiters earn?

The average annual salary for a recruitment role is around £27k, while the average entry level annual salary starts at £18k. This can go up to £45k, depending on your progression. As you grow and develop your skills, you will be able to try different types of recruitment roles.

What qualifications will I get from this apprenticeship?

As well as having gained experience in a professional environment, you will gain the following qualifications:

  • Level 2 Certificate in Recruitment Resourcing
  • Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Recruitment Resourcing

Note: Apprentices must achieve at least level 2 English and Maths prior to taking their EPA (End Point Assessment)

Starting a Digital Marketing L3 Apprenticeship? Here’s what you need to know

by

Firstly, welcome! You’re about to spend a year learning about all the fundamentals of Digital Marketing. As you can imagine, that covers a lot of different areas and specialisms, and there will be many, many kinds of tasks for you to do. Do not despair though, we are here to guide you along the journey and give you practical tips on how to manage your workload. Let’s start.

What will I learn about on my digital marketing apprenticeship ?

Digital Marketing is a broad term that covers many areas, so we’ll break down a few of them for you here:

  • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): SEO is something digital marketers work on to help a website or a page to rank higher in search engines.
  • Social media, paid and organic: this covers the posts that business make on social media channels as well as ads which are paid for and targeted at specific audiences.
  • Email marketing: you will learn how to create them and how to analyse the data in order to optimise your campaigns.
  • Google Analytics: an important one, because it tells us all sorts of information about user behaviour, as well as indicating how well content is performing on a site.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg – but I’d like to turn your attention to other, more practical matters.

A man working on digital marketing on his laptop in a nicely decorated apartment

How will my digital marketing apprenticeship be assessed?

In a nutshell, you are assessed in four parts:

  • Summative portfolio
  • Synoptic project
  • Employer reference
  • End Point Assessment (EPA) Interview

The latter three come towards the end of your apprenticeship. Your portfolio is going to be important from now until the end. It summarises all the work you are about to do for the next 12 months, based around ‘competencies’. You can read about all 13 competencies here.

To summarise, you need to give evidence of all the work you do, demonstrating that you are learning the necessary skills to become a good digital marketer.

How do I make sure that I achieve all the competencies?

It may seem daunting to have to think about so many different skills at once. It can be hard to keep track of whether or not you’ve completed a competency, or whether one of your tasks fulfils more than one competency. Luckily, you will be provided with a competency checklist which looks like this.

A screenshot of the first page of the digital marketing level 3 apprenticeship competencies checklist

Here’s what you do next.

  • Ask your line manager to take half an hour to go through the list with you. They will be able to advise you on whether any given competency can be fulfilled in the role you are doing. They may be able to give you additional tasks to help you get there.
  • If there are still gaps, ask them who on your team you could shadow. This will also count towards your Off The Job (OTJ). You will be learning a new skill and networking at the same time!
  • As well as the checklist, you can use a competency tracker like this one. If you make time to update this weekly, it will keep you on track for hitting all those competencies!
  • Make notes on all your relevant projects as you go. Even if you don’t write them up in your portfolio straight away, you will thank yourself when you have these to look back on to jog your memory.
  • Do not leave your portfolio to the last minute! It may seem tempting. Put time in your diary each week to write up a little bit more. Take screenshots of your work. Just an hour or two to start with should be enough.

Any other tips for my apprenticeship?

Enjoy your apprenticeship! It’s an amazing opportunity and you’re surrounded by a bunch of talented people. You’re here to learn, as well as work, so ask all the questions.

Throughout the day, keep a list of questions that  come up so you can ask your line manager the next day. You’ll find that people love to help, especially when it’s with something they are good at.

And finally, stay up to date on digital marketing trends by following reputable sources and thought leaders. It’s both interesting and useful.

A digital marketers guide to social media scheduling

by
Social media scheduling feature image.

Do you manage social media platforms and need to post engaging content out of working hours? Read on for your solution. Scheduling tools are used across social media to stay active across all platforms, without the need to work unsociable hours.

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that has several functionalities, including the ability to pre plan and schedule content. In this article we will provide a step by step guide on how you can schedule and plan your content using Hootsuite.

Step one – Adding the content

The first step is selecting the ‘create’ option, this will take you to the screen you see in the following screenshot. As you can see, there is a box named ‘content’, this is where your captions and text, as well as the hyperlink is added. The ‘Publish to’ dropdown is where you select the platform you wish to publish your post. You are able to select more than one platform, however, keep in mind that handles will be different across Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook etc. If you are not including handles in your post, you can select all accounts that are connected to your Hootsuite account.

Step two – Creating the social post

Write or copy and paste your caption for the post, make sure to include hashtags and the correct handles if necessary. Once you start typing in the content box, the post will begin to render as a preview on the right hand side. Here you will be able to see how the post will look once posted live on your chosen platform. At this stage, you can click into the handles and hashtags and check that they are correct. When scheduling posts, it’s always best practise to double check everything. After all, it is likely that you are scheduling posts as you will be out of office or unable to amend something if anything goes wrong.

Step 3 – Scheduling for social media

Next you need to select the date and time you would like for your post to be published. Hootsuite often suggests the best time for your post, however, you are able to choose this yourself if preferred. After checking you are happy with the content, date and time, hit schedule. Don’t worry if you have made a mistake, there is still time to fix the post. Please see step 4 for editing scheduled content.

Step 4 – Viewing your posts on Hootsuite

Once you have scheduled your post, you can find them all in one place on the dashboard. Here you will also be able to see previous live posts across different platforms. This is the screen where you can preview the post and make any amendments if required.

Step 5 – Using the content planner calendar

Lastly, Hootsuite provides a planner which can be found in the side bar, under the calendar icon. You can use this function to filter by the week or month and select the accounts you want to look at.

Hootsuite plans

Hootsuite offer a free plan that allows you to schedule up to five posts at a time. Once the limit has been reached, you will not be able to schedule anymore posts until one or more of your posts have been published. This is a great chance for you to get to know the tool and decide if it is right for you. If you feel that Hootsuite is the answer to all your troubles, you can upgrade to a number of different plans. Please see below a brief overview:

Professional plan

The main features of this plan are the ability to schedule an unlimited amount of posts, with up to 10 social accounts available. However, this plan will be for just one user. The price per month for this plan is £39.

Team plan

This plan allows three users access with up to 20 social accounts and similarly to the professional plan, the function to schedule unlimited posts.

There are more plans to offer, if you would like to find out more about this scheduling tool, click here.

If you found this post useful, check out our other article to learn more about free email marketing tools.  

Catering Apprenticeship – Commis Chef (Level 2)

by
A catering image, featuring two young commis chefs preparing food in a kitchen.

Kickstart your career in the catering industry with a Level 2 Commis Chef apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are becoming more and more popular, proving that they are not just an option for school leavers. As a Commis Chef, you could work in a variety of different places. This could include hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, hospitals or even in a military establishment. You would spend 12 months working as part of a large team, including but not limited to chefs of all seniorities, front of house staff, suppliers, and customers. During your apprenticeship you will gain invaluable skills, learning how to follow recipes to produce food of an excellent standard, as well as learning the importance of teamwork in all areas of the industry.

You will work as part of the kitchen brigade ensuring quality standards of the food are met and food safety management documentation is complete. Although Commis Chef’s may work unsociable hours, they will always be supervised in their work, reporting to a senior chef.

Key responsibilities for a Level 2 Commis Chef Apprenticeship

As a Commis Chef Apprentice, you will be responsible for a number of duties that will contribute to your knowledge of the industry. Please see below examples of what this could entail:

  • The apprentice will work with other members of the team to produce high quality dishes, ensuring food is served in a timely manner.
  • You will contribute to refreshing menus by using their skills to review and improve the offering.
  • Follow organisational brand standards and recipe specifications. This could include portion control and waste management.
  • Ensure to keep the kitchen a clean and hygienic place to work.
  • Complete food safety documentation.
  • Maintain stock levels following a stock rotation system.

Entry requirements for a Level 2 Apprenticeship in the catering industry

Unlike a higher Level apprenticeship, the entry requirements for a Level 2 apprenticeship are more reachable. If you do not yet have your Level 2 English and Maths qualification, you can work towards this during the apprenticeship. However, this must be complete before the end point assessment.

There are several qualities that are required for this apprenticeship, some of which are below:

  • The individual is accurate and pays attention to detail
  • Consistent, reliable, and respectful in the workplace
  • Works in line with and respects the values and culture of the organisation
  • Enthusiastic and committed to developing their skills
  • Uses their initiative to develop their skills and knowledge through on and off the job training experiences

If you already have a minimum of 4 GCSEs at grades A*- C, you may be able to start your apprenticeship at Level 3. However, a Level 2 apprenticeship is a great option to work your way up to the next Level if you do not meet the requirements.

A catering image, featuring a chopping board with fresh food being prepared by a commis chef.

Commis Chef career path

Once you have experience as a Commis Chef, the next step would be becoming Demi Chef de Partie then onto a Chef de Partie which is a section chef. The natural career path from here would be a promotion to Sous Chef, which would be the lead up to progressing towards head chef.

Conclusion

An entry Level apprenticeship is the perfect opportunity to break into your desired industry. Apprenticeships can lead into full time work; in the meantime you earn while you learn. Once you have completed the Level 2 grade, you could further your knowledge and qualification with a Level 3 apprenticeship, progressing all the way up to Level 6. If you would like to see what other catering apprenticeships are available in the UK, you can find more information on our latest page under catering and hospitality apprenticeships.

If you are a business and looking to employ a Level 2 apprentice, you can find additional information around the process and cost on our website. To stay in the know and keep up to date with ApprenticeTips new articles, you can sign up to our mailing list here.