For International Women’s Day, Construction Youth Trust caught up with Sophie, who is in the first year of her kitchen fitting apprenticeship. The Trust first met Sophie when she was at a crossroads in her career-making decisions and introduced her to the varied world of apprenticeships within industry.
The Trust asked students of Northfleet Girls School to ask Sophie their most pressing apprenticeship questions to discover the real truth of life as an apprentice.
Are there a wide variety of apprenticeships available?
Yes! There’s a really wide variety of apprenticeships! Off the top of my head there’s what I’m doing, kitchen fitting and there’s plumbing, carpentry, plastering, tiling, dry lining – which I didn’t use to know what that was, but it’s putting up walls basically – and there’s also the more technical side of things; civil engineering and site management for example. These are more senior positions which usually require a university degree but you can go in via the apprenticeship route too.
Are there equal opportunities for women in apprenticeships?
I would say that there are equal opportunities for women in terms of getting a ‘start’. If you go through an official route, like an apprenticeship, they are keen to get more women involved; especially in the construction industry. It really doesn’t look good on the sector that there’s so few women in construction because there’s no reason why women shouldn’t be working in it! It’s just the image of the sector and the fact that people can’t aspire to something that they can’t see themselves represented in. It might be a bit more challenging for a woman once you’re working full-time potentially, but only with a few people who have antiquated ideas; the general vibe is more open than you might expect.
Is the money you get from an apprenticeship enough to pay for living conditions?
With apprenticeships you do ‘earn as you learn’ – that’s what they call it – and it depends company to company how much you get paid. Some pay more, some pay less. I’d say at the lower end it’s far below minimum wage. I’ve spoken to some people who got paid £3.75 an hour which is clearly tough and it helps if you’ve got a support network around you. I think there is potentially access to further help if you should need it, but on the upper end someone was telling me about an apprenticeship that pays £400 a week, which is not bad; especially if you’re starting in at the very bottom! But it does depend on the company and you’ll probably have to get use to not having very much money for the duration of your apprenticeship.
Is a university degree more valuable that an apprenticeship degree?
So, I went to university and I did really enjoy it. There’s lots of good things to be said about university for sure, but after I graduated and I had to go out into the real world and work for a living I realised that it’s not easy to find something to do that you enjoy, or that has longevity or consistently challenges you. No job is ever perfect, but unless you want to go in quite a corporate direction or you’re really on some sort of track like science or medicine, then it can be tricky to find work after uni with an arts degree. So many people go to university and so many people come out with the same degree and it is really competitive.
I’d always had construction in the back of my mind because my dad is a plumber, but I always thought it was something I’d quite like to do on the side, but I’ve realised it’s something I have to do properly and commit to. You have to dedicate time to become good at a construction job, good enough to be paid to do it anyway, and I decided I would. I did a few things in between graduating and my apprenticeship, a few translating and care jobs but they were very infrequent low paid jobs.
It was a bit confusing knowing how to get into construction to begin with, but then I found Construction Youth Trust. That was when I found out about getting the CSCS card and was introduced to what apprenticeships are and I went from there really.
What’s been the best bit about your apprenticeship?
So, the most positive thing to come out of this apprenticeship for me is that I’ve gone from a place where I was very unsure about what I wanted to do, where I was going, and now I feel, even though I’m just at the beginning of my journey, really excited. It sounds cheesy, but I’m very excited about the future in terms of my work because I am constantly being challenged and I’m going to have new skills at the end of my apprenticeship which I can continue to develop because there’s so many avenues within the industry. And I can make a bit of money, which will be nice as well!
Sophie’s advice
If I were to give anyone a piece of advice going into an apprenticeship it would be that it’s unlike school or university. You’re not spoon-fed as much so it’s really important to take initiative and really show you’re enthusiastic and eager to learn; which I‘m sure you are! Also, on top of that if you don’t feel you’re being taught enough, because time is quite scarce on site and people are tradesmen as well as, or women! – Awful! There you go, that’s the whole societal impression that exists! – sometimes there isn’t enough time to teach and if you feel like that’s the case then speak to someone about it. There will be someone else who can give you the time so you’re learning and making the most out of the opportunity.
