Hear the real stories of apprentices who were once in your position

Level 3 Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Apprentice, Ibstock Brick

As a competitive swimmer, it was natural for Beth to get a job as a lifeguard, and before she knew it she was the duty manager of the leisure centre.

But it felt like the job wasn’t going anywhere, and she didn’t know what else there was for her.

She said: “I’d reached the peak of what I could do there. I didn't know what else there was for me, because I'd never really fit anywhere.”

She found the answer in the pool plant room.

As duty manager, Beth had access to the swimming pool’s pumps, filtration systems, dosing units and heating controls. And she was fascinated by how they worked. Beth said: “I knew there was something wrong when I had more fun in there than I did outside on the desk. I just thought, ‘I really want to know how that works.’” She started researching engineering and applied for apprenticeships, and in August 2023 she started as a mechanical and electrical apprentice at Ibstock Brick, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of clay products.

Beth is now in her third year and fixes the machines that make the bricks. She diagnoses faults, leads new engineers on tours of the plant and explains systems she couldn't have named two years ago.

She said: “I've had many jobs, but I never felt like I fit in. Then I was tumbling through clay at 3am with my shift and I realised I’d never felt like this anywhere else. I thought it was too late, but other people join later in life as well.”

Beth’s parents were apprehensive when she said she wanted to work in engineering, but now they can see the opportunities – and so can she.

She spent too long thinking she’d started too late. She just hadn't found the right thing yet.

First year Level 3 Engineering Apprentice, TNA

Lewand left sixth form after a year, having realised that psychology, media and business studies weren’t for him.  

He spent the next two years doing work that paid the bills but didn’t offer any challenge or satisfaction.

Lewand said: “I needed an actual career. I didn't believe in myself enough, to be honest. But I realised I wanted to give myself another chance at actually getting some kind of qualification, rather than going into a dead-end job.”  

After a cousin who works at Severn Trent mentioned the apprenticeship, Lewand applied and got in.

He’s now in his first year on a clean water site and, thanks to Make UK, is learning PLC programming, which is how to train the control systems that run industrial machinery.

Lewand sees the difference between his old and new job in the attitude of his colleagues, who all enjoy their work and want to be there.  

He said: “It’s a lot more rewarding than just getting paid or just going to school. It’s the best of both worlds. You’re learning genuine life skills.”  

Now Lewand’s 20 years old and he’s earning. He has a qualification ahead of him and a career in a sector where the work is essential and the jobs don't disappear.  

He said: “You don't have to go from school straight to university to get somewhere worth going. Someone could leave school, become a trainee, and have more real-world skill than someone who spent six years studying.” 

Level 3 Engineering Apprentice, Severn Trent Water 

Nicola had done a lot of jobs by the time she was 34, including nursing, landscaping and a university course in art and design.

The landscaping work was back-breaking, and she wanted a career where she could learn new skills and go to different places.

She spent a year looking for something different. Something that would give her new skills, take her on a journey and feel like it was going somewhere.  

She found the Severn Trent Apprenticeship while job-hunting and applied.

But the pay cut in the first year would be difficult to deal with, as she had bills to pay.   

Nicola said: “It was a bit of a tough decision. I was making sure I was going to be financially capable of doing it.”  

Now Nicola is a wastewater engineer, having trained alongside apprentices from different parts of the same industry. Her training has given an insight into how it all fits together that she couldn't have got anywhere else.  

At the end of her four-year programme she'll have a qualification, an employer who already knows her and a career in an industry that isn’t going anywhere.

Nicola said: “Do you want to be stuck in the job you’re stuck in now for the rest of your life? If you want to learn, just take the job.”