Last week, I attended the CMI Apprenticeships event organised by the Chartered Management Institute. It is an eye-opener event learning from stories of inspiring key note speakers namely HRH The Countess of Wessex, MP Gillian Keegan, and Dame Sharon White. There was a panel of successful apprentices who came a long way and shared their stories too. The event covered many apprenticeship topics but the most prominent was about the value of each apprenticeship and degree.
I have full respect for organisations who support apprenticeships whole-heartedly and vested effort and time in people development regardless of background. Where I am from and when I started my career, apprenticeship opportunities were barely available. I didn’t know which career path was best suited for me, therefore I took my parents advice. They said: “get a degree, secure a job, and get on from there.“
In between, I created my own apprenticeship opportunities by participating in national entrepreneurship competition. I contested in over 13 episodes of entrepreneurship where I was challenged by various reputable organisations on national TV. The entrepreneurship competition was over 3 months depends on how far I survive. At that time, I took unpaid leaves to participate given there is no organisation who is willing to sponsor any employees for such activity without direct transactional benefits in return. I neither win the big cash nor main job opportunity. However, I learned about leadership, management, team work, marketing, public relations, media, charity, hospitality, and running own business. Means to an end, these experiences opened more opportunities for me after. I was able to flourish in my career from different roles exposure across different industries and countries with my solid foundation.
Yes, I needed the degree to get my foot in the door. On the other hand, apprenticeships exposed me to valuable first hand real world experience that I wouldn’t have learned at University. But, can apprenticeships open more doors? Why apprenticeships are not getting the respect, global recognition and accreditation that they deserved today on par with a degree?