As someone who had been to a Russell group university and struggled with the intensity and pressure of studying 7 days a week, the apprenticeship route was the ideal alternative. The mix of studying one day a week and working the rest of the week gives me a good blend of the theory and practical learning required.
I started working at BTMK in 2022 when I left university, initially to gain some experience and to see if the legal industry was still the route I wanted to go down. I enjoyed working for the company and felt like it was the right place for me to be and after a year of working here I started thinking about whether it was possible for me to obtain the qualifications I desired to move up within the firm. I knew that BTMK offered the apprenticeship as two of my colleagues were also doing the course and when I spoke to them it sounded like the ideal step for me to take to get to where I wanted to be.
I think the biggest thing for me is that I feel part of a team here at BTMK. We’re not just colleagues but we are also friends and that really helps when sometimes things get difficult at work. Particularly for someone who is on the apprenticeship, I would say that it is really important to be on a team who give you support and guidance throughout the journey and I have found that at BTMK.
I have always been an ambitious person and I think the apprenticeship role matches my ambition through constantly learning and taking steps forward. I am given responsibilities which I enjoy, and I feel like I am trusted to carry out important work.
I would say that it may be a good idea to get some experience of working in the legal industry first before you start an apprenticeship role. It helped me that I already had an understanding of how things work day to day in a law firm, and I knew that I would be able to cope with the pressure of the fast paced environment.
For me the only negative is that the course takes six years to complete which is obviously a long time. Perhaps I would change that the course could be condensed down in to four or five years instead of the six it is set at.