apprenticetips

Signage Technician – Level 3 apprenticeship

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Different variations of signage in a city setting. Times Square New York. Image sourced from Unsplash

Signage technician overview

Are you looking for a change in direction, or looking to start your career? With a whole host of possibilities to grow and expand your knowledge base, why not kickstart your profession within the manufacturing industry. This exciting opportunity gives you the chance to learn and gain experience within a professional environment. Giving you the hands-on experience whilst learning the key skills it takes to become a signage technician.

Technical skills

Signage is all around us, you may not notice it all of the time. It can be there to notify, advertise products on a screen or it could even be a sign to show us what direction to go in. You can find signage in many forms in pretty much every town and city across the World. The signage technician apprenticeship aims to help you develop the skills and knowledge to design, manufacture, fabricate and install signage.

Signage isn’t just about creating something by hand out of an array of materials, it includes using multiple skills within technology. Having skills within Computer aided design (CAD) is useful and will need to be utilised in your work.

Types of signs can include:

  • Post mounted signage including road signage, directional, traffic signs and gantry signs
  • Building signage – entry & exit signs, health & safety signs, fascia signs, window signs and manifestations
  • Freestanding signs, screen displays, pavement signs and exhibition displays
  • Vehicle signage including wraps

Would you like to be a Graphic sign maker, Production department team member or Sign installation technician? You could even be a Sign writer or working as a transport and vehicle wrapper. The possibilities are endless to what career you can work towards.

Technicians working, facing away from the camera. Image sourced from Unsplash

Qualifications & Requirements 

Level 2 English and maths are required to complete the apprenticeship. If you don’t have a Level 2 qualification in English and/or maths, then these will need to be achieved prior to getting to the End-Point Assessment. Some signage technicians may require a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card, full details will be given if this is a specific requirement.

Key points overview

  • Candidate prioritises and works in line with health, safety and environmental regulations
  • Acts professionally, represents the employer well, uses appropriate language, tidy in appearance, takes account of equality and diversity considerations.
  • Takes responsibility, completes work with minimal supervision, knows own limitations and asks for help where required.
  • Independent worker
  • Enjoys collaborative tasks and can work within a team
  • Maintain machinery, tools and equipment
  • Adaptable to changing priorities, deadlines and committed to continued professional development, by keeping up to date with developments in the industry.
  • Course duration is 24 months
  • Level 3 Apprenticeship

You will be eager to learn and will come with a fresh perspective to create new ideas and grow within the team. You will learn how to communicate with a range of internal and external colleagues and contacts. These can be from any stage in the process of design, manufacturing, installation, sales etc.

Responsibilities

With a personable and professional approach, you are responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of signage products to the customer requirements. Whilst adhering to signage regulations and company quality standards. Working with the customer to create and agree upon their signage specifications and to produce costings and quotation information.

Being adaptable and responsible is a priority. Being able to use a range of machines, tools and equipment is part of the learning process. Working with a professional approach at all times you will be able to complete work with minimal supervision. Ultimately as a successful signage technician you will be able to diagnose issues and resolve problems to ensure high quality products and services.

Lastly, if you’d like to find out any more information, our blog is regularly updated with lots of fantastic apprenticeship opportunities, why not take a look at them here. Another way to keep in the know is to check out and follow our linked social media pages. We’d also love to hear from you, if there’s a sector you would like to see more of, let us know. Additionally, you can stay updated with our latest news and ongoing highlights by signing up to our mailing list.

Images sourced from Unsplash

Dental Technician Apprenticeship – Level 5

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Image of a female dental nurse operating a machine.
Empower yourself and others with a career in dentistry.

Have you ever wanted to work in the dental industry? If this Dental Technician Apprenticeship sounds like something you would be interested in, read on to find out more!

What is a Dental Technician?

Dental Technicians are responsible for designing, creating and modifying cosmetic dental appliances such as crowns, bridges and dentures. A Dental Technician work closely with dentists to produce this under prescription from dentists within a dental laboratory. Dental Technicians combine scientific knowledge with engineering precision to create and deliver the highest quality dental appliances. The role requires attention to detail, artistry and dexterity.

What will you do as a Dental Technician?

As a Dental Technician apprentice you will design, manufacture, modify and repair custom-made dental appliances. Typically the work is undertaken in a dental laboratory on a prescription from a dentist. The work can broadly be split into crown & bridge, dentures and orthodontics; most labs specialise in one or two of these areas but during the apprenticeship Dental Technicians will develop competency across all disciplines from start to finish before choosing if/where to specialise once they are qualified.

All Dental Technicians are professionals who work in accordance with the General Dental Council (GDC).

What are the main responsibilities

The main role of a Dental Technician apprentice is to help build prostheses for patients seen by the dentist/dental surgery. Your day to day tasks may include:

  • designing, making, modifying and repairing custom dental devices
  • using precision equipment and tools
  • shaping materials like gold, porcelain and plastic

plus much more!

Skills you will gain during the apprentieship

Below are some of the skills you will learn during the apprenticeship

  • Advising the prescribing dentist on appropriate dental devices based on dentist input, while recognising oral limitations and their effect on devices. Evaluate, for individual patients, the need for more complex treatment and seek advice from the dentist or more experienced Dental Technicians as appropriate.
  • Designing, manufacturing, assessing, repairing, modifying and providing biomechanically sound custom- made dental devices in the following three different areas
  • Assessing impressions, models and finished devices as well as the fitness for purpose of devices and propose alternatives where necessary, in line with patient prescription, and formally recording these decisions as for MDD requirements

Behaviours that are needed for the apprenticeship

  • Proactive in their own development, willing to commit to lifelong learning by use of a Personal Development Plan (PDP), personal reflection and continuous improvement.
  • Recognise and act within GDC standards, ethical guidance, information governance and relevant laws.
  • Willing to give and receive feedback effectively and tactfully within the wider dental team; taking responsibility for establishing personal networks with dental professionals, specialists and other relevant individuals and organisations.
  • Ready to take responsibility for integrity of completed work.

For more information about this apprenticeship, you can check out the Dental Technician (Integrated) Standard, as well as the assessment plan to understand how you should prepare for end-point assessment.

Entry Requirements

To apply for this apprenticeship you will need to have A Levels or relevant Level 3 qualifications. Employers who train apprentices without English and Math’s GCSE at Grade 5 or above must ensure that the apprentice achieves this during the course prior to completion.

Conclusion

The Dental Technician Level 5 apprenticeship is a 36 months long course. If you are looking for a health and science apprenticeship that will help you excel in the health and science sector, please apply for this opportunity through ApprenticeTips and start your future today!

To subscribe to our mailing list or see other vacancies that we currently have available please visit our site ApprenticeTips.com

Data Analysts Lvl 4 – Why We Need You

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Does gathering, organising and analysing data to help businesses operate efficiently sound good to you? If so, read on to find out how you could benefit from a Level 4 apprenticeship!

So, why Data Analytics?

An apprenticeship is a great start to your career, it instantly gives you the exposure to the skills you need whilst also learning. Or even if you are deciding to pivot your career. By signing up to do an apprenticeship, you’re fast tracking your way to success.

A primary role of a Data Analyst is to collect, organise and study data to provide business insight. Data analysts are typically involved with managing, cleansing, abstracting and aggregating data, and conducting a range of analytical studies on data.

They work across a variety of projects, providing technical data solutions to a range of stakeholders and customers. Data Analysts document and report the results of data analysis activities making recommendations to improve business performance.

These skills can be vital for organisations. Learning these valuable skills will allow you to thrive in organisations, helping them to make data driven decisions.

Benefits

Earn whist you learn! The average Data Analyst Manager earns £43k pa. There is also a salary of £150k achievable. If this all sounds too good to be true, it’s not!

Develop your skills

On a Data Analyst apprenticeship you will get the chance to develop technical skills using a rank go industry standard technologies and platforms. It is a chance to learn the ability to source, analyse, work with data, and generate insights that underpin decisions that can build a case for change.

Now, How do I get onto a Data Analysis Apprenticeship?

Here I will outline 5 tips on how best to try and find the role you want!

  1. Search https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship .
  2. Look into companies that you like and see if they offer apprenticeships!
  3. Do your research! Find out even more about Data Analysis
  4. Get organised
  5. Don’t be afraid to ask – reach out to us via our email

Further Sources

Here you can find more about Lvl 4 Data Analyst Apprenticeships

Top tips for creating social media brand awareness: Instagram

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What is social media used for?

Social media today is not what it was 5 years ago. With over 4.5billion social media users across the world on multiple platforms. Social channels have boomed with millions of businesses now using social media as their main selling platform. Now, let’s discuss what impact brand awareness has on Instagram.

Over 20 social platforms are now used across the globe, Instagram being one of the most popular platforms for sharing, interacting, and communicating. This platform is used for both personal and business use.

What is brand awareness?

Brand awareness is making the customers aware of who you are, the products you sell and what your brand is. Consumers can recognise your brand or business from a product they see, specific colours, fonts, or slogans.

Social Media Platforms.

Strategy 1: Using Paid Ads

If your new to paid ads on Instagram, look no further! This section of the blog gives you the opportunity to learn how to create and publish your first paid post, and why these are one of the most beneficial strategies to gaining brand awareness on Instagram

What are paid ads? Instagram allow you to pay for a post to reach a wider audience through the use of ads. This platform gives you 3 goal options; Get more messages, more website visits or more profile visits.

Depending on what you are aiming to achieve from the ad, but to gain brand awareness, choose the goal ‘more profile visits. This will drive more traffic to your page and people are likely to interact with the page and posts meaning the user will become more familiar with the brand.

The next step is to define your audience. If you already have audience types created, you can select one from the list, or the automatic target set by Instagram. For specific post types and content, you are more likely to receive better results. The create your own audience you must set an audience name (e.g., Digital Marketing Audience), geographical demographics such as the locations you want to reach, interests of your audience and the age and gender. 

One last step before your Ad is ready to go. Creating your budget and duration is the last part of your paid ad set up. Select the number of days you want to run your ad for, followed by your budget per day, this will ten automatically calculate the spend over the days your ad will run. For example: £5 budget per day for 5 days would mean that the cost of the ad is £25.

Strategy 2: Consistent branding

Creating brand awareness through consistency is a significant way of growing your Instagram business in just a few steps. Firstly, creating a business brand which is suitable to your products and style you are aiming for is the first part of this strategy. 

• Choose a bespoke primary and secondary font to use across all platforms.

• Use specific colours to use in your logo and branding. Take notes of the colour codes.

• Come up with a slogan suitable for the business. E.g., McDonalds ‘I’m lovin it’

Following the steps above and using the fonts, colours, slogans, and logos consistently will make your brand easily recognisable.

Strategy 3: Using hashtags

Hashtags have become more and more popular over the past 5 years for business on Instagram, and the great thing about them is that they’re free! 

They are used in the caption of a post, or the comments section, which is just preference. 

Ideally, you should create a hashtag for your business or use sections of your tagline. This would be followed by trending hashtags which can be researched online, and ones which are linked to the content of the post or industry.

E.g. An interior design could use these hashtags: #home #homeinspo #homedecor #project #renovation #interior #interiordesign #flooring #propertydevelopment #decorating #modernkitchen #furnituredesign.

These hashtags are suitable to the content she is posting, and users looking for information are likely to come across her page. People are viewing the brand and business, becoming more familiar due to searching for hashtags the user has posted.

Conclusion

Creating brand awareness for you page can be difficult at times, and it does take time. Consistently pushing your brand using the steps above will give you more than a head start.

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Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Operator – Level 2 Apprenticeship

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Non destructive testing operator surveying large metal pipe for quality check

Step into the world of science-based engineering with the Non-Destructive Testing Operator Apprenticeship. If you’re looking to start a career in some of the biggest industries in the world such as Oil & Gas, Aerospace, Energy, Power, Nuclear, and Transport, look no further as NDT qualifications can provide you with opportunities for all of the above. Read on to find out if the Non-Destructive Testing Operator Apprenticeship is the right fit for you.

Job Opportunities and Entry Criteria

Non-Destructive Testing Apprenticeships can provide a vast array of opportunities to kick start you into a well-paying career. Some of these include training in the product technology industry sector, education into NDT methods, and working as part of a team with workers at a similar level to yourself and of a superior level, allowing you to make contacts within the industry and potentially progress within the ranks

Entry level salaries after the completion of an apprenticeship usually start at around £26,000 and can go up to anything from £55,000 a year for experienced engineer level employees. If that isn’t enough to get you interested, some big organisations involved in creating the standard for the Non-Destructive Testing Operator were The British Institute of NDT, and Rolls Royce, meaning that popular companies similar to these organisations are sure to have a need for hiring NDT Operators.

Non-destructive testing operator surveying plane engine parts to ensure they are quality checked before being installed

Apprenticeship Entry Requirements

There are no educational entry requirements for this role, however you will need to achieve a level 1 in English and Maths in a level 2 English and maths test prior to taking the end-point assessment when completing the apprenticeship if you have not already achieved this through GCSEs. You will also be required to pass the NDT eyesight test, meaning you should have good, aided eyesight or good unaided eyesight for health and safety reasons. Adequate physical fitness is also beneficial for this role.

Daily duties and Primary responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis an NDT Operator Apprentice can expect to take part in some of the following tasks:

  • Inspection of materials, welding, and other product components or items using one NDT method
  • Report defects on the external surface of a test item or component
  • Visually assess and inspect products
  • Refer inspection results to a more qualified member of staff
  • Training and safe use of equipment used for inspections and assessments
  • Being forthcoming to your supervisor when raising concerns over the frequency of a certain type of defect
  • Marking defective areas for other follow up validations and assessments by supervisors or colleagues

Some of the tools you can potentially be expected to learn to use during this apprenticeship can include devices that measure conductivity, resistivity, and corrosion, as well as thickness gauges, flaw detectors, material condition testers, and eddy current instruments.

Testing equipment used by a Non-destructive testing operator

Knowledge and behavioural modules

Some of the key aspects of NDT operating that you will have the opportunity to gain knowledge about are:

  • Health and safety – In regard to Non-Destructive Testing ensuring your safety and the safety of others in the workplace is incredibly important. Your training and understanding will be relevant to the NDT method you will be using based on your training provider.
  • NDT methods – To complete the Level 2 apprenticeship in this area you will be required to understand and action one NDT method, which will be taught to you by your training provider.
  • Identifying defects – During this apprenticeship you will be required to learn and understand how to assess products and identify defects effectively against acceptance/rejection criteria.
  • Sector specific technology – You will be expected to understand and use relevant industry technologies, have knowledge of quality aspects, and working practices, such as induction information and workplace confidentiality protocols.
  • Industry relevant materials – Knowledge of well-used, new, and upcoming materials and product technology within your industry sector is considered extremely beneficial to learn in the Non-Destructive Testing apprenticeship.

Important qualities for Non-Destructive Testing Operators apprenticeship candidates:

  • Ethics – Speak to all colleagues with respect and treat individuals with equality in mind. Discrimination in the workplace is not tolerated and all workers should report anything if they feel they are being treated unfairly.
  • Time Management – All projects, assignments, and duties should consistently be completed in a timely manner and deadlines should be met or an extension should be requested in advance depending on the circumstances.
  • Independence – Be able to work on assignments without assistance from others and having a positive impact on the work environment.
  • Comfortable Working in a Team – Work in a team and support team members by equally contributing to any workload in any given teamwork scenario.
  • Communication Skills – Communicating with senior members of staff and colleagues to ensure work is completed on time and to a high standard, and any issue are raised and resolved.
  • Initiative – Apply knowledge learnt and experience gained throughout your apprenticeship to your daily tasks and use your initiative to raise any issues with senior members of staff.
Non-destructive testing operator apprentice using testing equipment to survey the safety of train tracks

Conclusion

Does the Level 2 Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Operator Apprenticeship sound like the right fit for you? We hope this post has given you an insight into the NDT course and has encouraged you to start your journey in finding the perfect career that is enjoyable and supports you financially. Non-Destructive Testing can open up a vast range of doors within the working world, making it a great choice for if you are yet unsure of what industry you wish to work in and are looking for an apprenticeship that will give you transferrable skills and keep your options open.

If Non-Destructive Testing is not for you but you’re still looking for something at a higher level in the science-based engineering field, why not check out our blog on the Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship?

At ApprenticeTips.com we love to hear all your questions and strive to help as many people interested in apprenticeships as we can, so head over to our Twitter direct messages to ask us for tips personally.

Alternatively, you can follow the ApprenticeTips Twitter or LinkedIn for all the latest updates in apprenticeship developments and information posted in our blog.

Top 5 Digital Marketing Data Tools

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Image of a data tool showing rows of data.

With data becoming the foundation of marketing campaigns and strategies, it is no surprise that data has become a fundamental part of daily routines and digital marketing courses. Throughout the level 3 digital marketing apprenticeship, students will need to understand various data tools to qualify as competent in the technical Data skill.

Data Tool 1 – Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics

Although I was cheeky here to add two data tools in one, these tools are commonly used as the basis of pulling data for campaigns and strategies. If you need to prove an idea or decide on the success of a marketing tactic, using one of these data tools will be the best place to start.

Data gives team’s the relevant information needed to understand where traffic is coming from. Traffic channel data is necessary when confirming the success of a marketing tactic. Furthermore, this data can give you and your team an idea of what traffic channels need optimizing immediately. If a traffic channel is not driving a large volume of traffic or the conversion rate is significantly low, it is an indication to digital marketers that the channel needs improvements; this could be through optimizing a current campaign that is not succeeding or creating a new campaign. Often, this can be a great way to propose a strategy to senior team members.

The best element of these data tools, in my opinion, is being able to compare data points from different time ranges. This can give an indication on the performance of a traffic channel, product or page through determining whether key metrics such as traffic, conversion, bounce rate and revenue have increased or decreased over time. This trend can suggest whether a campaign is performing better or worse and lead to discussions on why this may be and how to improve this.

Data Tool 2 – Microsoft Excel

Personally, Excel is a favourite tool for pulling data insights! With reporting tools such as Adobe Analytics, Excel can provide detailed visualizations that can be easily shared with the team. If you have a passion for data in your digital marketing apprenticeship, I recommend studying this tool and leveraging the basic formulas to provide your team with regular performance updates. Moreover, use conditional formatting! I use it to colour code positive and negative data points. This is clearer for the team and myself to see an overview of our performance.

Furthermore, you can easily share data and insights. Use Microsoft Cloud to work within the same documents as colleagues to collaborate together.

Data Tool 3 – ContentSquare

Analysing web pages has never been simpler. ContentSquare gives a whole new meaning to using data in digital marketing. With the Chrome extension giving digital marketers the ability to analyse heat maps on live web pages, this is a tool you don’t want to miss in your apprenticeship.

Optimizing your site for SEO? Testing new content on different pages? This tool will allow you to compare visitor engagement on pages over time. You will be able to see whether the changes you have made have had a positive effect on customer engagement. Likewise, it is important to monitor any negative impacts.

Understand the engagement of your audience with this tool. Then, take key insights back to your team to explain why certain pages are performing better or worse than others. Use these insights to inform next steps in content and SEO planning.

Data Tool 4 – Google Search Console

A range of data tools is important to find insights that align with different marketing goals. As a digital marketing apprentice, you will need to understand Search Engine Optimization. This will determine a site’s organic search performance. If a page has a low ranking on the search engine results page (SERP), it will have low visibility to the target audience.

Interested in learning what pages on your site are performing well and which need optimizing? Google Search Console has many features that can provide these insights. Personally, my favourite feature is the average page ranking for a given URL. This data can give marketing team’s reasons behind Organic Search performance. It can give marketer’s the incentive to run a SEO strategy. Then, you can understand whether the strategy is working through continuing to monitor how the page rankings change through the trend graph.

An image of someone working on a laptop, using a data tool.
Data Tools are important for marketers to build campaigns that are valuable to the goals of the business.

Data Tool 5 – Google Trends

Another SEO tool, Google Trends is a useful data tool to find the volume of searches for certain keywords. When conducting keyword research, it is important to find keywords that are both high enough in volume to reach a significant audience, but also with low enough competition so competitor brands don’t take all the top ranks.

Furthermore, this tool can be interesting to look into branded keywords, especially if your company is trying to understand whether they are more engaged with their audience than a competitor. This tool allows you to see the volume of searches for your company’s branded keywords compared to that of a competitor.

Data Tools – Conclusion

These tools are useful for their own reasons. However, the level 3 digital marketing apprenticeship standard focuses not only on being able to pull and read data, but you must also be able to provide recommendations and insights to others. Take note of where I have mentioned sharing data to recommend marketing campaigns based on data trends.

If you are interested in learning more about key digital marketing tools, check out our article on keyword research tips for SEO.