Is A Social Media Apprenticeship Worth It?

Hi! I’m Issy and I’m the resident social media apprentice here at FI! 

Having never been particularly academic in school, and having never gone to university, I was initially very apprehensive about doing an apprenticeship. The idea of essentially going back to school didn’t appeal to me one bit. However, with my apprenticeship coming to a close, I can confidently say that I was wrong!  

Over the last year, I’ve grown both professionally and personally in ways I never expected. I have learnt many different important lessons, developed invaluable skills, tackled new challenges and gained so much confidence in my abilities.  

So, are social media apprenticeships really all they’re cracked up to be? Well, in my humble opinion, they most definitely are! 

In this blog, I’ll share some of the biggest challenges I’ve faced over the last year as a social media apprentice and some of the small but effective ways I’ve helped myself to overcome them. 

Challenge 1 – Managing deadlines for multiple clients

As someone who has spent most of her working life in the service industry, dealing with the pressure of deadlines was new to me. Then, adding in numerous client deadlines to the mix made things even more overwhelming at first. Each client has their own persona and brand identity, some are very informative and serious, whereas others you can play around with a bit more, and I found switching between them a bit tricky – often finding different client’s work bleeding into each other.  

With that being said, there were a few little things I did to improve and overcome this. In order to overcome time pressures, at the start of the week, I would do a big brain dump and write a list of all my tasks. This really helped me to visualise my workload and make it easier to fill out my schedule for the week, so I was able to effectively time block and move smoothly through each client. These small changes have massively improved my time management skills and made juggling deadlines much more manageable! 

Challenge 2 – Staying creative when inspiration runs dry

Social media thrives on creativity, and I think every creative would hold their hands up and admit they have had times when their well of inspiration has been completely dry. The need to constantly have the creative juices flowing and coming up with fresh ideas can be quite daunting. However, this can also be a positive thing, as it forces you to push yourself and rethink the content you’re producing.  

When I hit a creative block, I often find that imposter syndrome can start to creep in. This is when I learned the importance of taking a step back and trying to reignite the inspiration flame!  

There are a few ways I deal with a lack of inspiration. These come in many forms, sometimes it’s scrolling through social media to see the latest trends and what competitors are doing, at other times (my personal favourite way) it’s getting the team together for what we like to call ‘Breakfast Brainstorms’ – sometimes all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to bounce ideas off.  

I also discovered that taking a short break and changing my surroundings can be a great way to reset my mind and start again. We have recently switched up the office layout to include a breakout area, which has helped immensely when a change of scenery is needed.  

Challenge 3 – Overcoming imposter syndrome 

Imposter syndrome has probably been the biggest challenge I’ve faced throughout my apprenticeship. When I first embarked on my course, I often felt out of place and doubted my abilities, especially when comparing myself to more experienced peers and colleagues. As a bit of a perfectionist, I sometimes hesitated on sharing my ideas or sending my work for approval, fearing it wouldn’t be good enough.  

However, I’ve learned over the last year to cut myself some slack and remind myself how far I’ve already come. I remind myself that an apprenticeship is about learning, not about excelling at all times. Mistakes are part of the process and are important for growth. With the help of my colleagues, I started to gain more confidence and slowly but surely, I found that I wasn’t questioning myself as much.  

I still have the internal battle of thinking I’m not good enough but as time goes on and with the support of the team here at First Internet, my confidence has grown, and I now find myself leaping out of my comfort zone a little bit more each day. 

Challenge 4 – Learning to embrace constructive feeback

Receiving any kind of feedback is essential in an apprenticeship, however, receiving constructive feedback is something that I found difficult to take on board in the beginning. 

There were times when I took to heart the feedback I received, and initially, this was very disheartening as it caused me to question my abilities. Over time though, I have reframed my mindset. I now understand that constructive feedback isn’t personal, and is actually a very good thing, as it helps you to grow and improve. It’s ok if something I like isn’t other people’s cup of tea!  

While this is still something I’m still working on to overcome, I now welcome feedback as an opportunity to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone more often. 

Challenge 5 – Balancing work and learning

Doing an apprenticeship is like a balancing act – especially in the first few months – you’re constantly trying to find the right routine to allow you to meet client deadlines and focus on your learning.  

Sometimes it can be hard to switch from work mode to learning mode. At The Juice Academy, they make sure we have a day a week that’s dedicated to our apprenticeship which has really helped with this. It allowed me to almost ‘swap brains’ and dedicate my time effectively – I knew on a Wednesday I was able to step away from client deadlines and forget about them for that day so I could focus on my learning. It also helped with managing deadlines and prioritising tasks, as it meant if there was something that needed turning around quickly, I knew it needed to be done in the first half of the week. 

The prospect of learning alongside working was something very new to me as I’d never done anything like it before. However, having the hands-on experience before my learning sessions allowed me to put the theory into practice. And working alongside someone that had previously done my course was also incredibly helpful as it allowed me to easily understand how the whole process worked. 

Challenge 6 – Navigating dyslexia and copy writing

 As someone with dyslexia, I initially felt self-conscious about working in a role that involves so much writing. I found myself feeling quite ashamed of the fact I struggled with spelling and grammar, and I would find myself thinking ‘how can I be doing a job that involves so much writing and not know how to spell certain words or not use the correct grammar sometimes’. I worried that this might make me look unprofessional or incompetent. I felt like I didn’t belong and that I was never going to last in this industry.  

As time went on, however, I realised that it doesn’t matter if I make the odd spelling mistake and that this doesn’t define my ability to succeed. Tools like spellcheck and Grammarly have been extremely helpful in breaking away from that initial shame I felt, and now I can use my time to focus on the strengths I bring to the table, instead of fretting that I don’t deserve to be in this field. 

Final Thoughts – Are apprenticeships right for you?  

Being an apprentice of any kind can be incredibly overwhelming sometimes, but it is also extremely rewarding.  

While I’ve certainly had some struggles along the way (writing this blog being one of them), each struggle has taught me such valuable lessons about resilience, time management, and self-confidence, that I’m not sure I could’ve learnt in a ‘normal’ job.  

I’m so grateful to my past self for taking a risk, because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today! 

If you’ve been considering doing an apprenticeship but are worried it might not be right for you, or you think you’re too old (you never are by the way), just take the leap, I promise you it’ll be worth it. What’s the worst that can happen anyway?