Marketing Apprentice Review

My role is very general at Softcat, which I love and means I get involved with so many different projects as well as being able to network with so many people, I currently working heavily within the Communication Team on many projects with people from my team and within other teams in the organisation. My responsibilities currently include sending out Newsletters, managing the team weekly meetings, managing the social media, keeping tack of POs and photography projects. I also help out in other areas such a creating event pages for partners and help support of building/amending the new Softcat website. Some of my most recent projects include getting involved with Softcat's sustainability piece, Instagram refresh and starting a new project looking to launch an apprentice newsletter. There are so many opportunities at Softcat work wise as well as being able to meet so many new people and upskilling yourself on the job to help with personal development.

I was thrown in at the deep end when joining Softcat and have learnt so many new skills such as presentation skills and my presentations now are a lot more effective as well as being more confident in myself. I have developed my organisation and time management skills as you have to stick to deadlines and always be on track as the IT sector is such a fast-paced industry. I have also learnt teamworking skills and how to work with different people and their work styles, within Marketing we are always collaborating on projects and have to make sure communication is good. They are to just name a few, I have learnt so many other soft skills and social skills. Softcat also have workshops to help develop these skills delegating, prioritise work, etc which I have found super helpful and the support as been amazing throughout my apprentice journey.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my apprentice programme so far at Softcat, I have met so many new people and networked we people like the CEO and directors - which necessarily I may not have been able to do this at another company. There are so many opportunities, there are always things to get involved with within work and communities in Softcat. There is never a dull moment, it is super fun working at Softcat! I have also increased my knowledge of business in general but also IT knowledge, which has been useful and interesting. Can't wait to see what is to come!

I think it is such a well structured programme, inductions for the programme was in depth and informed us of the key information we need to know when joining Softcat. There has been so much support and help throughout the process!

The support has been immense, I have received so much support from my employer I have in place mentor sessions, regular catch ups, been exposed to upcoming training sessions. Especially from working from home and the challenge to stay motivated and feel supported virtually, Softcat have manage to achieve this and throughout this period I have stayed motivated through team calls and catch ups as well as allowing me to voice my concerns in a safe place if I have any.

We receive a lot of support from out training provider, our coach is just an email away and is always quick to respond to any queries. We have regular workshops and learning sessions as well as 1 to 1 catch ups, which have been super helpful when solidifying our knowledge and allows for discussions points as well as allowing us time to ask questions on coursework.

I think that it massively helps as I am learning the theory behind business, which I can use within my day to day role. I am always putting the theory learned into practice and specific tools that would be useful e.g. when starting a project needing to create a Gantt Chart, I would have been taught this in the workshops with the training provider and know what one should look like and how to make it the most effective it can be as well as helping me identify somethings that may go wrong and need to be wary of. Knowing more about the industry will allow me to complete my qualification at the highest level.

This has been hard during having to work from home, however at Softcat we have communities to get involved with and help plan events for upcoming weeks and days e.g. green week. My team have set up virtual calls including painting, cooking etc to have the catch up outside of work. There are always internal events such as Kick Off, coffee roulette - which virtually randomly put you in a room with someone, this was not only fun but I got to converse with people that I wouldn't have necessarily done within my role.

Yes

It is a fun company to work for, you get to meet so many new people, you get so many opportunities and you learn so much! There are so many good reasons to work for Softcat and I would recommend doing an apprenticeship at Softcat to any of my friends.

Make sure to be passionate! Be yourself and don't panic about the interview ask lots of questions and make sure to get key points across on the skills you already have and things you have already done/achieved.