A day in the life of an apprentice

If you're thinking of becoming an apprentice, it's a good idea to think about what you will be doing on a day to day basis.

Our apprentices have been keeping a diary to give you an idea of what your day could look like if you were to follow in their shoes.

• Sophie Millington: Community arts administration apprentice

  • My name is Sophie Millington and I work for Blyth Valley Arts as an Arts Development Assistant. 

    The apprenticeship I am doing is Community Arts Administration.  I've been working at Blyth since the summer, however I did a week's work placement there in my last year at school and really enjoyed it so I was very happy to get the arts job after I finished school. 

    I usually get to work just before 9am and if I don't get a lift I'll get the bus.  It usually takes about half an hour to 45 minutes to get there (usually because of the rush hour traffic!).

    On a daily basis  I to check and deliver the post, check and respond to emails, check answerphone messages and either deal with the messages that I can or pass on those I can't do to my manager.  I do lots of different jobs such as the graphic design for posters, flyers, and email newsletters.

    I also organise community arts events, such as the live music event I am currently working on. I had to research venues, dates, bands etc.  I did some research of different organisations (such as Generator)  and companies who may offer funding.  I then started to look for possible sponsors and partners and through that I found some people who were willing to partner with me such as the sexual health team and YPin (Young People in Northumberland). 

    After contacting these people I then decided to set up a meeting with them to run through some ideas and they helped come up with the idea of setting up a steering group with people of a similar age to help with my event.  I am still looking for a couple of people to join it. I will discuss my ideas with the steering group and they will help me to make the best decisions and plans.

    I have also had a meeting with a musician and a sound company to talk about my event and their thoughts, and have been able to attend a couple of gigs to see how things work and what they do to help me prepare for my event.

    Once all the details are final I will have to bring the ideas together and make a brilliant event happen!

• Garry Wark: Hairdressing advanced apprentice

  • In the salon I work with some great people, who make the whole day fun and interesting while I am learning new skills.

    Being an apprentice allows me to meet lots of different people, which enables me to develop my communication skills - this is very important in hairdressing as it involves dealing with clients on a personal level.

    At College, I've had some great opportunities, such as performing on stage at the Student Awards 2011, where I styled three models with Lady Gaga inspired looks in front of an audience (pictured above, right).

    I really enjoy being an apprentice, and this is how my day usually looks:

    7.30am 
    I'll start my day by preparing myself for work: a shower, clean, fresh clothing, teeth cleaned and most importantly eat breakfast!

    8.20am
    I leave the house and my journey to work will take approximately 10 minutes (if the bus turns up on time). I aim to always on time to start work, normally arriving about 15 minutes early.

    8.45am 
    I arrive at work and look in the appointment book to check if I have any clients booked in, what time and which service. I will prepare my work area for the client and the service that I will be providing i.e. colouring, cutting, perming.

    If I have no clients booked in I will prepare to assist other stylists within the salon which will give me the opportunity to continue learning new skills.

    10.30am  
    Sometimes I will get a morning break if the salon is not too busy where I will be able to have a drink and a snack and most importantly I can text my friends or my Mam to ask what's for tea!

    10.45am 
    Continue  to work on my own clients or assist other stylists.

    If the salon is not busy I will clean the salon basin areas, work stations, all tools and equipment, fold clean towels and get dirty towels bagged and ready for cleaning.

    11.30am 
    Go around the staff and write a list of what they want for lunch and go the shops to buy it.

    12.30pm 
    Lunch break!
    
    1.00pm 
    I will continue to work as I have done in the morning, hopefully building up my clientele.

    3.00pm 
    My afternoon break

    3.15pm 
    If any members of staff want to have their hair done, including me, this is normally the time when this happens. It gives me extra training opportunities that I must have to continue to build up my hairdressing skills.

    I also get some feedback from the stylists about the hairdressing skills I've learned. 

    5.15pm 
    Clean and tidy the salon making sure all electrical equipment is switched off and unplugged from the wall, before going home!

     

• Motor vehicle apprentice

  • 7.50am
    Arrive at work, put my overalls on and have a cuppa.

    8.00am
    Speak with my supervisor to see what he wants me to do, he'll usually give me a vehicle to work on, quite often, on smaller jobs, I'll see the job through to completion (larger, more complex finishes are completed by more experienced staff). On Mondays and Thursdays the Apprentices have to make sure all the bins are emptied into the skip as the skips are emptied on those days.

    10.00am
    Tea break, have a cuppa and a biscuit, read the back of someone else's newspaper.

    10.15am
    Return to work on vehicle.

    12.45pm
    Collect sandwich orders for the other staff and have lunch.

    1.30pm
    Continue working on preparing vehicles, I usually work between all of the paintshop staff in an effort to get all vehicles through the workshops as quickly and efficiently as possible, this might mean rectifying paint defects (polishing) on newly painted vehicles, helping colleagues get vehicles masked up for painting or preparing and priming vehicles.

    4.15pm
    Tidy up the workshop.

    4.30pm
    Get washed and changed, head off for the Metro to go home.