Apprenticeships are still a success during the pandemic
This week is National Apprenticeship Week, and to celebrate we spoke to Alfie about his experience starting an apprenticeship at FitzRoy during a global pandemic.
Alfie joined our marketing team in October as our junior content producer, and since then has worked across campaigns and appeals, creating videos with the people we support.
He said: “As soon as I started at FitzRoy I felt welcomed. It’s such a humbling organisation to work for and I couldn’t have hoped for a better place to do my apprenticeship. As soon as I saw the opportunity come up I knew I had to go for it. My team are so supportive and encouraging, and already the apprenticeship has allowed me to be creative and do what I enjoy doing, while learning new things at college and earning money.
Alfie Macken interviewing Robbie Knox for his podcast
“I have always had a passion for video production and have had some amazing previous experience at places like Sky News and ITV. I also have my own podcast and have made my own short films in the past. I wanted to channel all of this into a job where I can also get a qualification. For me personally, university was never an option. I liked the fact that with an apprenticeship you can begin your career journey from day one while learning the skills you need to develop alongside your work – and not having any of the debt you get with university!
“I have already got involved with so many projects since beginning my apprenticeship – producing content for our social media channels, and I have loved working with the people we support to create videos. Everything I have worked on so far has really helped to develop my creative skills, as well as being a lot of fun.
“I was apprehensive about how it would work starting an apprenticeship during the pandemic, as I’ve not been able to experience the working life in our offices. However, thanks to the power of the internet and Teams I’ve been able to build fantastic relationships with my colleagues and the workflow has always run smoothly. Relaxed catch-up meetings are always available during the week, so you never feel alone or lost, someone is always there to help at FitzRoy.
“If someone was to ask my advice on whether to apply for an apprenticeship, I would definitely say to go for it. You have nothing to lose, you get the skills you need for your future career and a qualification. It’s a lot of hard work, but completely rewarding, especially if you work for an organisation like FitzRoy which has such strong values.”