Update Number 2: Helen

I posted back in the summer about Helen being offered an apprenticeship. It seemed an exciting opportunity but in the end it never came to anything. She was offered a work placement she didn't like the sound of (it was in a high end fashion company, really not her thing!) and although she was told it was fine to refuse it and wait for another, nothing else materialised so she started applying for other jobs.

She eventually started work at the beginning of October as a marketing apprentice with a recruitment consultancy in a nearby town. She works four days a week and spends the fifth at college doing a business administration course. So far she absolutely loves her job. Recruitment consultancy is something none of us had any clue about. It turns out that it is a fast paced, exciting business, at least at the international level that this particular company works at. It is also well rewarded. While Helen is on a lower salary as an apprentice, it is still well above the minimum that many apprentices receive. She also gets a whole array of side benefits, ranging from free fruit on the desks (it is a "healthy eating" office) to a day off for her birthday as a bonus on top of her normal holiday entitlement. Yesterday I got sent a picture of the Christmas hamper she had just been given! The work she is doing seems to be quite varied, ranging from working with social media to helping arrange events. She says the days go past quickly and the office is very friendly and sociable. Her apprenticeship is for eighteen months, but as the company is expanding and has a track record of keeping its apprentices her longer term prospects look pretty good. So far she has absolutely no regrets about choosing work over university - quite the opposite.

All in all, she is having a wonderful time. Not only is work going well, but as soon as she knew for certain she had a job she bought her own car so she has a new level of independence. Seeing her drive off in the morning all dressed up in her office clothes is both a source of pride and makes me feel slightly old!