Question: Should I take apprenticeship or look for a proper job?
I'm 19 and finding it difficult to find a job. So I may be starting an apprenticeship next month that lasts a year and I'll only get £90 a week. I get a good qualification by the end of it but I can never afford to do all the things young people do i.e go drinking, go on crazy holidays which I know sounds superficial but isn't this supposed to be the best time of my life? What should I do?
Answer:
Apprenticeship all the way. Better to be poor now than even poorer in your mid-twenties which are even more fun but thats when people start making real money after studying and you'll be left behind not being able to ever afford it for the rest of your life. Everybody is poor at 19. It's not cool otherwise! Just rack up a load of debt if you really have to just like most other students subsidising their lifestyles.
Play the long game - yes you may not be able to go mental on £90 a week, but you'll get at least one good night out of it. And at the end your qualification should mean you'll be able to get a better paying job than you would if you didn't do it. And you could always keep looking for a second job (evenings in a pub or something).
Honestly, from an older person's point of view, I'd take what I could get - the job market won't improve much any time soon so I'd grab this with both hands and make the most of it. What's your alternative? There's a possibility that you could still be job hunting a year from now, and you've less chance of being able to go drinking and on crazy holidays whilst you remain unemployed.
So in short - take the apprenticeship. I would.
Hi
I retired from a job that caused me to serve three years of solid apprenticeship, during that time I knuckled down and studied as best I could, I used my spare time to gain greater knowledge of my craft and it served me well as I gained distinctions at three levels.
The way I see your fortune; embrace the apprenticeship with open arms, knuckle down for a mere 52 weeks and bingo your on the gravy train, do not build up debt as someone has suggested, stay cool (Why pay interest on a huge amount of money) a year is but nothing yet debt is long lasting and sucks the very life out of enjoying your work.
Pay into your firms pension or a professionally recommended private one; shop around for good advice, and beware of some well known pension and insurance companies they are shareholder minded who do not add annual interest to your accumulating funds but claim they settle with a retirement bonus ..they are fund managers who feed their shareholders with the benefits due to your account. (Look for a MUTUAL SOCIETY THAT PROMISES IN WRITING that you have choices and can remove your Pension FUND and accumulated PROFITS if they should sell out or move on into the private sector).
I myself have had 18 years of retirement with my firms RING FENCED SCHEME and will continue to benefit until I die.
Good luck.
You'll want to do those things all your life. One day you may buy a house and have a family - very expensive!
Get an apprenticeship now and you can get a better paid job for the rest of your life and afford to do all the things you enjoy. I wish I had!
p.s.- the minimum an employer can legally pay an apprentice is £2.50 per hour. A good employer will pay you more - if you are worth it!
Employers can get over £2000 year from the UK government for each apprentice they take on. Make sure your 'apprenticeship' is genuine and you are not being used just for cheap labour. Look on the government website for more info.