Celebrating Rachael Morgan's apprenticeship success!

By Charlotte Woodward, Director of People Services

Apprenticeships bring mutual benefits to the employer and the apprentice. Apprentices from all ages and backgrounds make a positive impact on a business, being a great way to develop the skilled and experienced workforce that they need.

Apprenticeships can help individuals become attractive prospects for future employers as each individual apprenticeship scheme is tailored around the needs of the employer; enabling apprentices to develop the key skills that employers within that industry need.

As an inclusive employer, Guidant Global recognises the true value of apprenticeships and our latest success story is a great example of this. Rachael Morgan joined us in September 2017 as Digital Marketing Apprentice and has recently completed her apprenticeship with a Distinction! This in itself speaks volumes as Rachael has made a huge impact within our UK marketing team, having run many successful recruitment marketing campaigns across the business. As a result of this, we are delighted to welcome her in her new role as Digital Marketing Coordinator. To mark National Apprenticeship Week and celebrate its #BlazeATrail campaign, we caught up with Rachael to reflect on her time with us as an apprentice.

What made you undertake an apprenticeship?

I had finished my degree in Film Studies and although I’ve always wanted to be a scriptwriter, my dream was (and still is) a long way off. So I decided to look at how I could carve a career in writing in other forms. I started off volunteering for an eco-tourism company writing listings for their website. I enjoyed this a lot, both for the experience and for figuring out where I want to go on holiday (hello Costa Rica!).

After this I worked at the University of London for 3 months, redesigning their careers website. This was a great experience for me and though I didn’t know it at the time, I was gaining a lot of skills that I now find useful every day in my role at Guidant Global.

Next came the idea that marketing could be a good route for me to go down to develop my creative writing skills, so I started applying for marketing opportunities, which included this apprenticeship. Having already completed a degree I wasn’t sure if an apprenticeship would be right for me considering the stigma around apprenticeships as well as my age, however with the apprenticeship levy being introduced that year, the wage on offer compared to other apprenticeships I’d found was a huge bonus, plus I love being in a learning environment.

What key skills have you learnt?

This apprenticeship has been invaluable as I’ve developed a number of skills, both from my time working in a marketing team, as well as the courses the apprenticeship provided for me. These included an in-depth marketing course on Avado that covered everything from social media marketing and content marketing, to digital ecosystems and programmatic advertising. I was also able to complete a short course on coding, so I now have a basic knowledge of CSS, HTML and JavaScript.

What’s your greatest achievement at Guidant?

I think my biggest achievement so far was running a recruitment marketing campaign for Guidant’s client, Shop Direct, from start to finish; from conception to the final client report. This experience was vital in terms of my knowledge and my confidence in running marketing campaigns as well as really testing my Excel skills, which up until that point had been sorely lacking.

How has your apprenticeship impacted your career goals?

Though I still dream of being a scriptwriter, my experience of working in the talent marketing team at Guidant has given me so much exposure to different environments (having worked with a number of client brands) and allowed me to be creative. My career goals have changed direction in that I would now love to go into film marketing. I think this would be the perfect blend of my love for film and my enjoyment of working with lots of different brands.

What would be your advice to anyone considering an apprenticeship?

• Search thoroughly for the right apprenticeship for you – it may also be useful to research the apprenticeship provider and look at any reviews they have

• Organise yourself and ask lots of questions. There can be a lot of information given to you at the beginning which can be difficult to take in so don’t be afraid to ask the employer to find out if an apprenticeship would be the right fit for you

• Try to be as confident as possible, the employer isn’t expecting you to know how to do the job but will be wanting to see the potential and in you and your soft skills