Becoming an apprentice was the best choice I ever made

Growing up, going to university seemed like a dream — a dream my family and I spent years preparing for. Coming from a background where university is seen as the ultimate target of success, mainly because not many of my family members have been, meant I never thought of doing anything else.

Like many other young people I know, I attended a school which spoke about careers that needed a degree, from medicine to teaching, but rarely talked about training schemes, apprenticeships or freelance work. Being the type of person who prefers hands-on and practical work, during the last year of my A-levels I found myself contemplating whether university was really for me, but I just didn’t know where to turn.

As I wanted to get into journalism I realised the best way in was through an apprenticeship, so I applied for that. The interview process wasn’t as hard as many make it out to be — grades, where you’re from or where you’ve studied were not the main focus. Instead, it was based on enthusiasm and new ideas that can be brought to the table.

Apprentice 19, taking place during this week’s London Careers Festival at Guildhall, enables students to explore employment and work experience opportunities within a range of industries. In the UK, almost 800,000 young people aged 16 to 24 are not in employment, education or training and events such as these can change this. Students need to be exposed to relevant and timely information that will shape their future. Not all pupils can gain access to such information through their families, schools or environment.

Apprentice 19 has more than 60 potential employers on the stand, as well as apprentices who won’t only advise but will give accounts of the challenges and triumphs they’ve encountered. Coming straight from A-levels, it’s often easy to have an unrealistic view of what the working world is like — I know I did. But the beauty of being a trainee or an apprentice is that people will be there to guide you.

There is a strong emphasis on education and qualifications during apprenticeships, which definitely appealed to a parent such as mine who always believed “education is key to success”. Apprenticeships are not longer dominated by the manual trades and the engineering sector — they now span a range of industries, including accountancy, IT, law and the media.

It’s now a year since I finished my A-levels and decided to apply for an apprenticeship and it was the best decision I made. It’s exciting to see festivals like Apprentice 19 take place because it gives hope that more young people won’t be held back but be given access to information and the right network to point them in the right direction.

• The Evening Standard, which has an editorial bursary apprenticeship scheme supported by the Stationers & Newspaper Makers livery company, will have a stand at Apprentice 19, being held at The Guildhall today.