We spoke with Callum, Director of Morgan Branding and our two new Apprentices, Dan and Paddy to see how they are getting on during their placement. Morgan Branding is a Warrington based design agency, specializing in web design, branding and graphic design. Paddy and Dan joined the team as Apprentice Developers and are working in the Web team to help design and create bespoke websites for clients throughout the world.

Tell me a little about yourself, what is your background?

Dan - I gained a degree in Product and Graphic design, it started there, there were little bits that were focussed on web design and development, after leaving uni and going through a variety of jobs, I always revisited this in the background, doing little bits of self study. When the lockdown hit, I had a lot of spare time at home. I decided it was time to go for it and learn as much as I can. I feel that this is one of those industries that will just keep growing and growing, so it made sense to dive in and get into it. I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Cal, my employer who put me through this course. My journey developed over a long time and I just decided to go in feet first over the last 12 months.

Paddy - I came from a creative background, I completed a degree in advertising, when I left uni, my main focus was to get rid of my debts so I took a job in contracting in the banking industry. This started as a 3 month role which ended up lasting 7 years! After that I was desperate to go back to something a bit more creative. That is what took me to code. I completed the Code Nation course off my own back during peak covid, I struggled to find a role at first so worked doing some freelance work. Luckily I was sent through to Callum, had a chat with him and went for it.

How are you finding the apprenticeship overall?

Paddy - I’ve been enjoying it so far, I’m working on projects individually and with Dan. For someone that has only made two websites before, I have been involved with about 8 or 9 since I’ve been at Morgan Branding, it's been great to get stuck into it rather than waiting for work to be given to me.

Dan - I agree with that, we both work with someone else in the web team called Chris and between the three of us, we have a large list of things to do, we’ve got together to figure out what the best way to split these up, what to focus on. Additionally, working with clients, things can often change and I think this is a big part of learning. I have learnt a lot quickly and I am really enjoying the flexibility of the apprenticeship.

Oftentimes, I will split my time between working on things that need to be completed such as working on different sites, learning different things that I need to and speaking with clients, a variety of different aspects of the business.

Any advice or suggestions for someone thinking about moving into the industry?

Dan - I would recommend an apprenticeship to people looking to get into this industry. I think the most valuable experience you can get is whilst you're working on the job. From experience of self teaching for a while, there is only so much you can do by watching tutorials or going through basic resources. Without actually putting them into action and coming across problems and having to solve them because it's part of your job, I think it really is the best way of learning and certainly a good route in.

Paddy - I agree, I also think I’ve learnt so much that isn't necessarily coding or design, by working as part of an agency you learn so much about that as well. Callum has shared so much with us so far. It's that type of thing that you just don't learn when you're on a course or trying to do freelance stuff.

Callum - As an employer, because Paddy and Dan have had goes at coding and design before, which I think that anyone, whether they are 30 or 16 can do, there's no reason you couldn't have a look at youtube or do a course before an apprenticeship, I would definitely look favourably at people that have shown a willingness to learn and have tried themselves. By doing this, when you get into employment, you actually have a feel of how difficult it can be to do on your own, and are able to ask for support.

I think that anyone that is thinking about doing an apprenticeship such as this or getting into coding should have had a bit of experience first. If I see a CV that says they have never tried to code before or have never tried to build a website before and they applied for a job building websites, I would be a bit hesitant at this.

I feel once people have tried it and know that they enjoy it, the apprenticeship and the job will provide the structure and support to push on and do whatever you want to do in life around that.

My advice to people considering this sector would be to try before you buy, have a look on youtube, try to build your own website, even if it is just a simple one built on Wix. It can be for anything, it doesn't matter, just have a go then go from there.

I would be very impressed by that as an employer, Paddy actually did this during his interview, he showed some of the sites he had built in the past and we circulated these round, the quality was actually better than some of the sites we had done so straight away, he was in a good place to catch our eye and get a job.

Dan - One thing I would like to add on the apprenticeship rather than self learning as well, when you are teaching yourself and looking online, It’s easy to get lost and not know what to learn, whereas the apprenticeship has a good structure. It breaks it down into this is where you should start and then you progressively learn what you should rather than getting lost in different languages and different parts of web design.

Do you have any tips for apprentices to help manage their work and their studies?

Dan - I sometimes use the study to help break up my days, I may spend part of the morning working on one of the websites, and then rather than being stuck on a problem all morning, I will spend a couple of hours doing some learning on something else that I did the other day that I wanted to learn more about. I try to mix it up and use both to compliment each other, to help have a break from one and the other.

Having a good and flexible employer is a massive help, I am lucky that my employer Cal has a lot of trust in us. Instead of having to dictate what to do hour by hour, we know what needs to get done and can plan our time around this.

Callum, the Director of Morgan branding shares his experience and advice for apprentices and employers considering recruiting an apprentice.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, what it is your role and background?

Callum - I am the director of Morgan Branding, We have had 3 apprentices prior to Paddy and Dan over a variety of aspects within the business such as digital marketing. I was relatively familiar with apprentices and happy with the apprentice route to work.

From experience employing people that potentially have not gone down an apprenticeship or university pathway, I have often found that the attitude isn't quite where it needs to be for a working role, likely due to experience. I have found that people who have continued with learning, whether as an apprentice or university graduate typically have the right attitude regarding learning and constantly developing themselves.

That is one of the reasons I like apprenticeships. Whilst Dan and Paddy are a little bit older than some of our other apprentices, I find that they all share that learning focussed attitude. At Morgan Branding, we have people that have completed degrees and then gone on to do an apprenticeship, people who have come straight from college who are more than capable of completing a degree if they wanted but have chosen an apprenticeship route, and we are happy either way.

For me, as a company owner looking to employ people, it is an indicator that they want to continue developing and continue learning. As proven, Paddy and Dan are a little older and they still want to keep pushing.

I believe that our generation will be in jobs for a long time so if you are in a job at 30 that you are not happy with, you should try and find something that you enjoy doing and make a career out of that instead. I think that what they both did was very brave in a pandemic, taking a backwards step in terms of money, to taking a forwards step in terms of what they want to do.

Would you recommend apprenticeships for other employers? If so, why?

Callum - Yes definitely, however I always caveat that by saying that it has to be right for the employer. We have had apprentices in the past join us that have worked for other people that did not find the experience as good. I think that from an employer perspective, you need to remember that an apprenticeship is not cheap labour, it is not a case of giving the apprentices the simple repetitive and boring jobs, leaving them and then recruiting another.

I like to say to people, An apprenticeship is like a 12 month job interview, you are trying to find that next generation of talent coming through, they have 12 months of learning and then they will be ready to join the workforce in that higher paying role. If you view an apprenticeship as cheap labour, it provides a bad experience for the apprentice, for the employer and for the training provider. I don’t think it is a good way to think about it.

If you are interested in bringing someone into your company to be with you for a long time, from my experience so far, apprenticeships have been a great way in for most.

One other thing to consider is that you need to be in a position where you can support them, having a support system in place around the apprentices, having workplace mentors and putting them in the right teams is key to get the most out of it.

We are hoping to bring in 2 or 3 apprentices each year, which will let newer apprentices speak with other apprentices and support them. If you are just a small company and you bring someone in to support with social media for example, and you don’t currently have someone doing this, you will find that the apprenticeship route doesn't really work. It’s important to bring them into a team.

Dan and Paddy are making fantastic progress through their apprenticeship and we will be checking in later to see what exciting projects they work on next. If you are interested in recruiting an apprentice and up-skilling your existing team, speak with us today