Let's Celebrate Young Talent for National Apprenticeship Week 2022!

It's National Apprenticeship Week, a government-backed initiative to highlight the increasingly important role that apprenticeships play now for young people, for businesses and for the UK economy as a whole.

Companies nationwide will be celebrating and highlighting their commitment to apprenticeships. On social media many of those stories will be told using the hashtag #NAW2022.

To mark this important week in the calendar we're talking to Robbie Climance, of Swindon who is a social media executive with one of the town's leading digital marketing agencies Smarter Media. He completed his apprenticeship in late 2021 and now works as a full-time team member.

Robbie originally became a digital marketing apprentice via New College  in Swindon after attending Bradon Forest School in Purton from Year 7 to 11. He then went on and attended Cirencester College for two years, completing his Level 3 Media Production Course before taking on an apprenticeship.

What were your favourite subjects at school? 
I've always been creative so I really enjoyed subjects like art and design tech in school, and in my college course I was able to create different types of media from videos to posters and audio scripts.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship? 
Personally, I was thrown off the university route by the cost and the fact that I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to pursue. Being able to learn a new industry and new skills whilst being able to earn and be part of a team really appealed to me, which led me down the apprenticeship route. 

What did you learn? 
A lot of valuable information and insight into the marketing and digital marketing industry. I really benefitted from learning new skills such as being able to evaluate a marketing campaign and the importance of branding, skills that I've taken into my new job role.

Where do you hope the apprenticeship will take you? 
Smarter Media were kind enough to offer me a full-time role as Social Media & Creative Executive which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I've already been able to take advantage of my new knowledge and I hope in the future I can continue to do so as I grow with the company.