Summary

The interview featured Sophie Bolton, an apprenticeship ambassador and marketing professional, discusses her journey into and through the apprenticeship system. She detailed her non-traditional route, undertaking a Level 4 PR and Communications apprenticeship to upskill within her existing job after deciding against university. Bolton championed the benefits of apprenticeships, including the flexibility of online learning, the ability to apply knowledge directly in the workplace, and the advantage of earning while learning without incurring debt. She also addressed common misconceptions regarding salary and the limited scope of apprenticeships, highlighting the vast range now available.

 

Key Points

  • Bolton's path to an apprenticeship was non-traditional; she was already employed and used the apprenticeship to upskill for a desired role within her company.
  • She found the online learning format to be highly flexible, allowing her to revisit resources as needed, an experience she felt was an advantage over traditional classroom settings.
  • A major benefit she highlighted was the ability to immediately apply theoretical knowledge in her full-time job, which also benefited her team.
  • As an ambassador, she noted that common concerns from prospective apprentices revolved around salary and a lack of awareness about the wide variety of apprenticeships available beyond traditional trades.
  • She argued that there needed to be more education about apprenticeships within schools to present it as a viable alternative to the more commonly discussed university route.
  • The apprenticeship significantly grew her confidence and developed key soft skills, such as leadership and teamwork, which she directly attributes to her subsequent career success.
  • She believed employers gain immense value from apprentices because they are eager to learn, absorb information like a sponge, and can grow alongside the organisation.

 

Transcript

Transcripts are auto-generated

 

Kiran Kapur (00:01):
Hello and welcome this week. We are in the world of apprenticeships.


Sophie Bolton (00:05):
I keep saying the beauty of an apprenticeship, but it really is a beautiful thing, is that you do your work, you study your apprenticeship, you can go back to work, take your mind off of it, you can go back to work, you can apply your knowledge. You can also then go back and study if you don't know anything. Every day is a learning day, and it's never too late to learn.


Kiran Kapur (00:22):
And I'm delighted to welcome Sophie Bolton, who is an apprenticeship ambassador and also quite a rising star within marketing. She's come in as an apprentice and has now moved, and we all discuss your career as we go on Sophie. But first of all, welcome to the show. Talk a little bit about how you got into apprenticeships.


Sophie Bolton (00:43):
Thank you for having me. It's brilliant to be on here. So my route into an apprenticeship was a little bit different. Quite a lot of people, they'll probably be at school, and then they'll maybe lead straight into an apprenticeship. I was at school, I did my A Levels at Sixth Form, and then I left and I got right into the world of work. I was quite lucky. I think it was because I knew someone, so I managed to get my first job, which was brilliant. And I didn't start off with an apprenticeship. So my current employer, there was a role that became available in our team, and I really wanted to go for that role, but I knew that I'd probably have to upskill myself. So that's where my apprenticeship started in comms and PR.


Kiran Kapur (01:25):
Okay. So you started in your apprenticeship, were you someone who shone at school? Was it something that you were planning to go to perhaps, university? What was the plan?


(01:38):
When I was at school, I wasn't really someone that was interested in the university route. And that's not to say that it's not for people, and I'm not for university because I absolutely am. Just when I was at school, my focus was a little bit different. I was playing sport at a high level, and I think that kind of led me to be a little bit lost in terms of my next route into a career because I always thought that that was probably going to be where my career led. That doesn't mean that my grades necessarily lacked. I was doing okay. I mean, I started off in upper school. I wasn't achieving what I wanted to achieve, but I really ended up putting the work in and getting some good grades. So I was pleased with that. And then also in sixth form, I had the same experience. I managed to get some good grades, but again, I was still playing sport at high level, so I really wasn't sure where my career was going to go.


(02:31):
You were actually a professional footballer for a while.


Sophie Bolton (02:33):
Yeah, I was playing football for MK Dons at the time, which was an amazing chapter of my life. I love to talk about it, but sometimes as well I like to leave it behind because it can get quite sad. But yeah, it was an amazing experience, and I think it also led me into a lot of the traits and characteristics that I have within my work now. Mostly leadership and teamwork. I think they're two the most important things that you can get in a career.


Kiran Kapur (03:01):
And you are doing that alongside studying at school?


Sophie Bolton (03:05):
Yes, I was, yes, and also working at the same time. So


Kiran Kapur (03:11):
Yeah, I'm getting a real sense of being able to study world working, and that's a key skill with apprenticeships, which we'll definitely come onto.


Sophie Bolton (03:18):
Yeah.


Kiran Kapur (03:18):
Okay. So tell me a little bit about the apprenticeship that you took.


Sophie Bolton (03:22):
So I studied a level 4 PR and Communications apprenticeship, so I think it was a 15-month course, and it was absolutely brilliant. I learnt so much in that course. There was amazing modules that I could go and learn. It was all online. I had a brilliant tutor, Alan, and it was really, really good. And a lot of the skills that I learned throughout that apprenticeship, I absolutely applied every single day in my full-time role. The team could probably vouch for that as well, but I feel like I really came a long way with that apprenticeship. Where I started to where I actually finished, I could see that there was a lot of skills progression, so it was a brilliant apprenticeship.


Kiran Kapur (04:02):
That's lovely to hear. Tell me a little bit about what it's like to start an apprenticeship. I think it's quite a different way of studying. You're not studying at school, and you are not going on a training course for work. It's a very different way of learning.


Sophie Bolton (04:17):
Yeah, definitely. And I think the online approach as well is different to of course being in the classroom. I hate to refer back to the time, but COVID I was in that cohort of students that had to go into the COVID learning online with my teachers. So that was quite an experience, but one that actually kind of played in my favour when I came to do an apprenticeship. But for anyone that hasn't experienced that period, what I would say about doing an online apprenticeship is that it's really good in terms of flexibility. Of course you have the particular hours that you have to study, but you also have the ability to go back on your knowledge when your teachers or your tutors aren't there, which is something that I think I really missed when I was at school because of course you'd have to be in the classroom to ask those questions, but that's something that starting an apprenticeship, I really noticed that it's very flexible and you have the ability to go back and get those resources if you need them.


Kiran Kapur (05:12):
Yes, that's interesting. Did it feel lonely? I think that's one of the things people worry about being online learning.


Sophie Bolton (05:19):
I suppose the beauty of doing an apprenticeship is you're still working full time. So I had my team around me, which it didn't ever feel lonely until perhaps I was doing a lot of reading time. And again, I suppose there was always a Drop-In to go to with the Cambridge Marketing College or a webinar to join. So you never truly feel alone, and there's always people to reach out to. And that's especially why I've become an ambassador because I want to be able to be there for apprentices that might need to ask questions about how they can progress in their apprenticeship or their career.


Kiran Kapur (05:51):
We'll come back to apprenticeship experience, but as an ambassador, what sort of questions do you find that people do ask you?


Sophie Bolton (05:56):
Mostly around salary.


Kiran Kapur (05:58):
Okay, fair enough.


Sophie Bolton (05:59):
To be quite honest. So I think a lot of people, there's a common misconception that you are paid very, very low as an apprentice, and it's not always the case. I think it depends as well how you get into your apprenticeship. Of course there's different routes. Mine, I was already working but wanted to upskill, but some might be going into an apprenticeship as their first time thing. So it can really vary. And I think the answer that I give is it's never definite, and you have to kind of make that decision off your own back and ask all the questions that you need to ask. But I think some of the other questions that I get are what types of apprenticeships are there, because I think more recently, and for myself as well, I understand that there's many apprenticeships in many different things, whereas beforehand I probably only thought that there was apprenticeships in engineering or something like that. But absolutely there's apprenticeships for so many careers now, and that's the brilliant thing about them.


Kiran Kapur (06:59):
I think there's over 750 odd different apprenticeships now in everything from AI to obviously to marketing to tyre fitters too. There really is a range.


Sophie Bolton (07:09):
Absolutely. Yeah, and AI, what an introduction that's had and absolutely an impact as well. I mean it's been something that's really good for comms, not to take my job hopefully, but something that can really help my productivity.


Kiran Kapur (07:25):
So when you are being an ambassador, and you're talking to people about apprenticeships, I mean we've talked about obviously there's clearly a concern around salary, which I can understand. Are there other things that hold people back from doing an apprenticeship?


Sophie Bolton (07:38):
Not necessarily that I've experienced so far. I think mainly the thing that probably holds people back more is the education around it. I think there's not enough people that necessarily know about the apprenticeship route and that can fall down to teachers as well. So a recent, I actually went back to my school recently and I was speaking to the apprenticeship lead there, and I think there's a little bit of education that needs to happen around the school. Just because at the end of the day, apprenticeships aren't always spoken about, but university mainly is, which is absolutely fine, but what we want to do is also boost up the apprenticeship chat. And I think that's where it comes down to the knowledge and the education around it. It's


Kiran Kapur (08:22):
Interesting you say the School had an apprenticeship lead though. That quite a change.


Sophie Bolton (08:26):
Yeah, really, really good. And we've had some really good conversations. There's lots that we're going to be doing, supporting the students hopefully on a monthly basis. I'm also going there to do a bit, I think it's going to be an online assembly, which again is a new thing to me. I never had an online assembly when I was at school, but yeah, so going to be attending there to do that and speak a little bit about the journey, I suppose.


Kiran Kapur (08:52):
That's fascinating. So one of the other areas people worry about with the apprenticeship is there is an assessment, you actually have to have an assessment at the end. What was the experience of that?


Sophie Bolton (09:03):
So I've always been someone that finds assessments quite daunting. It's probably just a personal thing. I know some people go into them really confident, some people go into them a little bit nervous, and I was definitely the latter, but I wouldn't say it is a scary experience. The assessment was really great. I had support from my tutor the whole time, and I think if you prepare well, then you should do well. And that's the main thing for me. I had to prepare well to do well, and I did.


Kiran Kapur (09:34):
But it is slightly different, isn't it? It's not like you're going into a whopping great exam hall or you've got time, you're being asked to hand in an assessment. You actually have to meet your assessor, don't you?


Sophie Bolton (09:46):
Yeah, and you have to stand up with your laptop and show the room around and make sure that there's nothing in there, which again was a new experience for me. But I also think that's the beauty of apprenticeships is how flexible it is. So I had the opportunity to do it in my office. I could have done it from home if I wanted to because I have a hybrid approach in terms of my working pattern. But yeah, I was in the office, I did my assessment, and then I got straight back to work applying my knowledge all day, which was great.


Kiran Kapur (10:17):
That's very impressive. We normally tell people to have a break.


Sophie Bolton (10:20):
 I know it's just super busy. So I think that's also the beauty of an apprenticeship, and I keep saying the beauty of an apprenticeship, but it really is a beautiful thing. But it's that you do your work, you study your apprenticeship, you can go back to work, take your mind off of it, you can go back to work, you can apply your knowledge. You can also then go back and study if you don't know anything. And it really is flexible. And those hours that you get per week to study, absolutely utilise as much of it as you can because every day is a learning day and it's never too late to learn. So that is one thing that I would advise people.


Kiran Kapur (10:57):
You are definitely, definitely a fan of the apprenticeships. Was there any sort of downsides did you find? Were there anything that you found difficult to navigate?


Sophie Bolton (11:09):
I wouldn't say so necessarily. I think one thing around communications is the digital landscape is always changing. So when it comes around to learning particular things and platforms, there's always a new platform, there's always a new approach. There's always a new way to analyse analytics and things like that. So I think it's very dynamic, and one thing that I would say, and it's not a downfall at all, but to any apprentices out there, definitely do your reading away from your apprenticeship as well and keep up with what is going on in the world. I suppose it depends on what type of apprenticeship you're doing, but when it comes around to marketing, pr, communications, it's all usually to do with what is going on in the world at current trends etc, so absolutely keep up with those things outside of your apprenticeship and you shouldn't fall behind.


Kiran Kapur (11:58):
Yes, I think the world of work is changing very fast. I mean PR and comms that you were doing, the rise of AI and how that is affecting things and also the changes in social attitudes. I mean what is acceptable at one stage may not be acceptable at another stage. These things are always really important.


Sophie Bolton (12:17):
Yeah, definitely.


Kiran Kapur (12:19):
So you've talked about studying and the workplace, and I'm getting the impression that you found that the studying and the workplace sort of dovetailed quite nicely. Is that fair?


Sophie Bolton (12:31):
Yeah, I'm happy to say that's fair. I think my team as well really liked the fact that I was doing an apprenticeship and learning, because I was also then teaching them some things that I'd learned, and they were taking that away and applying it to their day jobs. So I really did like that blended approach of working and learning and also earning whilst you learn, because that is definitely, definitely a pro.


Kiran Kapur (12:56):
Yes, it is. One of the things that we haven't talked about that obviously if you go to university there is whether you call it the student loan or you call it a tax or whatever, you view it as, you nonetheless come out with a debt to pay. With an apprenticeship, you do not.


Sophie Bolton (13:10):
Yeah.


Kiran Kapur (13:11):
Is there one piece of advice that you would give somebody considering an apprenticeship? What do you say as an apprenticeship ambassador? What's the advice that you give?


Sophie Bolton (13:18):
Sometimes it's hard to say because I can only advise, and I also don't want to dictate what someone's path is going to be in their journey. If they're really adamant that they want to go to university or it's a route that they're considering, then I will absolutely take that approach and let them make their own decision. Of course. I think if I was to give one piece of advice though on taking an apprenticeship, it's the fact that you gain that experience whilst you are learning, and that actually moving forward could set you up for really good career progression. So I think that's one thing to consider for anyone that is thinking about doing an apprenticeship, is that the experience that you gain from being in the workplace whilst also gain a qualification is something to really think about. And that would be probably my one piece of, I suppose it's not really advice is it, but it's something to think about.


Kiran Kapur (14:12):
I think the soft skills part, and one of the things that I wanted to ask you about was you've mentioned a couple of times that the apprenticeship gave you confidence. So there's a definite set of knowledge that you learn with an apprenticeship, there is a syllabus that we have to cover, but I think the skills, which is also part of the syllabus, is one of the really interesting parts. How did you find that your confidence grew, and how did the apprenticeship help you with other skills?


Sophie Bolton (14:38):
Yeah, so I think for me, something that grows my confidence is when I have more knowledge. And of course doing an apprenticeship gave me more knowledge in essence. So that really grew my confidence, and the more knowledge that I gained, the more confidence I gained, the more people I spoke to. And also I think it's the feedback that you get. So when you are doing a job or you roll out a piece of communication or a campaign, and it goes well, that sets you up then to feel more confident going into the next one. I think in an apprenticeship we talk about reflection quite a lot. So reflecting on your learnings, what went well, what didn't go so well, and applying that next time, that really, really helps. So my confidence definitely grew through doing an apprenticeship.


Kiran Kapur (15:22):
And are there other skills that you learned on your apprenticeship that you feel that are useful? You mentioned teamwork earlier.


Sophie Bolton (15:28):
Yeah, teamwork is a massive thing, and I think especially being in full-time work, you have to be a team player. There was a few campaigns that I managed to lead myself, and that of course included coordinating the team and coordinating the communications and the campaign. Totally. So leadership definitely became one of the core skills that I feel my apprenticeship helped me out with.


Kiran Kapur (15:51):
So I do want to explore a little bit about your career because so often on the podcast I'm talking to people towards the end of their careers and it's lovely to have somebody who's bouncy and bubbly and at the beginning of the career, but your career is really is on a trajectory. So talk me through, you ceased to be a footballer, then where has your career gone from there?


Sophie Bolton (16:11):
Yes, I probably seem to be a bit of a jack of all trades, but I've definitely come into my niche now, which is communications and marketing. So I'm pleased to be there and hopefully my career continues on. So of course, I think we spoke at the start about where my career started and how I got into my apprenticeship. So working with my employer now, I became a communications consultant and took on my apprenticeship, and I still hold that role now, which is absolutely brilliant. But I also founded in May, 2024, my own marketing agency where I started out freelance, but I also have a small network of freelancers that I work with now on projects, mostly local, but also working nationally, and it's a whole range, full service, digital marketing and web design. So it's all go. It's very busy. I have a brilliant work-life balance as well, but the knowledge that I learned in my apprenticeship really gave me the confidence, as we've spoken about confidence, to start up my business and then also continue my career.


Kiran Kapur (17:16):
I was going to say that's quite a brave thing to do. It's not easy, it's not an easy environment, but to go right, that's it. I'm going to set up my own. And this is Hatch Creative Design. So what was the motivation that made you do that?


(17:34):
So I've always been someone I think that has quite an entrepreneurial spirit. I really liked it, and especially working in marketing and communications, I suppose things to start from the beginning and become a brand and look really exciting. But also, I think I have a massive passion for marketing. So I know that there's lots of businesses out there that have a vision, have an idea, but don't quite know how to reflect that into the digital world, how to gain more business perhaps. So that's something that really made me take the jump, I suppose being ready is never a feeling. It's a decision, isn't it? So you just have to jump right into it. So I did.


(18:17):
That's a great line. Being ready is never a feeling. It's a decision, I think is absolutely right. A very, very good thing to work towards. So as we come to the end, there were a couple of things you wanted to say to people about apprenticeships. Perhaps looking at it the other side, why would an employer want an apprentice?


Sophie Bolton (18:33):
Yeah, that's a really good one, actually. And perhaps that would probably be a question for my employer. I did my apprenticeship, but actually coming back down to it, I think it's when you are an apprentice, you are very willing to learn. So you will absorb everything like a sponge, I hope, and you'll then put that back into your day job, and an employer can get real value from that. I think being able to learn and grow, but also grow with the organisation whilst also growing your own skills and knowledge, that's a real win for employers. So I think, yeah, coming back around to what would my last thing be to say about apprenticeships is it's an amazing group for anyone that is coming out of school, even anyone that is looking to upskill in the workplace, it's an amazing, amazing opportunity. And if you get it, grab it with both hands and definitely do it.


Kiran Kapur (19:29):
That is a lovely way to end. Sophie Bolton, apprenticeship ambassador. Thank you so much. I think your passion has absolutely shone through. Thank you.


Sophie Bolton (19:37):
Thank you.