Apprentice Economist Review

My role requires me to analyse economic data in the form of charts, statistics and notes to provide across my government department. This information is then taken by policy making officials to influence their direction on crafting policy. These policies can then be considered and then implemented by the government.

I have developed my skills in analysing and picking out key points of data. I have also then developed my ability to present and communicate this difficult information in a succinct manner. I find that day to day I am tackling different challenges and helping myself develop. To do well at the job you must also develop organisation skills which come very quickly.

I really enjoy my programme. Being placed in a central government department feels important and it feels that the work I am doing impacts people in the United Kingdom. My role has been very sociable which has helped me get through day to day work, and overall people are very encouraging and helpful.

The programme is well structured and organised. We are assigned a day a week to complete our university studies whereas the other 4 days are for working. The day to day work life is very well structured and respectful of the day off for learning. The workplace is also lenient in changing working and studying schedules.

My employer is very supportive to my work and education. They always listen to when I want to change some of my working patterns to accommodate for particularly busy uni weeks such as exams. Coming in to the work with no experience, they were very supportive in getting my working life off to a good start and to maintain that now 2 and a half years in to my apprenticeship.

The qualification and work place is somewhat different so we do not receive a massive amount of support. This is however dependent on what department you work with and who you work with. However, the university is very good at offering support through personal chats and also through webinar support.

My role has been very economics centred, so doing an economics degree alongside has been helpful. However, a lot of the economics syllabus is centred on the larger picture, and roles at work are normally specialised in to niche categories of economics. The qualification helps for the broader picture although you’ll learn lots else on the job.

There are many opportunities to get involved in extra curricular activities. I have played football with my work place, attended many social events such as the pub or the park, and also attended professional networking events. There is a big sense of community at my employer and I believe generally across the civil service.

Yes

I chose this apprenticeship straight from school as I wanted to immediately get on the path of working rather than purely further education. This has really accelerated me into the working field and particularly the civil service. I would recommend this to anybody that would rather work than purely do university, but also to anybody that wants a change in career path and sees economics within the civil service as appealing.

Prepare for your interview by looking at current world scenarios and particularly UK politics. I applied around the time of leaving the EU, so centred a lot of my reasons for working there around Brexit. Make sure you’re well versed on what’s happening but also make sure to be yourself!