Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week: A Mentor's Perspective
14 Feb 2025
National Apprenticeship Week is a time to celebrate the positive impact apprenticeships have on individuals and businesses. At Sort Group, we recognise the value of investing in young people, helping to develop talent while providing hands-on experience and a clear path for career progression.
Just as apprenticeships provide valuable learning experiences, our mentors play a key role in this journey, offering guidance and expertise to help apprentices cultivate new skills, build confidence, and thrive in the workplace.
Join Emma Brown and Amelia Holmes from our Marketing Team as they share insights into the value of apprenticeships and how they can strengthen team collaboration, benefiting both the individual and the wider team.
What made you take on an apprentice?
Emma: At Sort Group, we’ve had a lot of success through apprenticeship programmes in the past, especially in Sort Legal and our Accounts Departments.
After being contacted by various apprenticeship providers over the course of a couple of years, when it came time to recruit a new team member, it made sense to follow the apprenticeship route. We knew we wanted to provide an individual with support, learning and development opportunities, as well as on the job training to help both the company, and our new apprentice in their career.
How do you approach mentoring to ensure the success of your apprentice?
Amelia: I think for us marketers in particular, it’s important to simply start off with a brief of whats happening and then break down tasks into small pieces. When it comes to campaigns, there are so many different elements to consider, and by breaking it all down and mapping out when/where the assets are going out, this helps to ensure that our apprentice doesn’t feel overwhelmed – because it can be lot sometimes! We want to make sure that we’re building on their confidence, so a step at a time is definitely the way forward.
Obviously checking in with them on a regular basis opens up conversations and empowers them to know that they can come to us at any point, no question or idea is ever a silly one.
How has mentoring an apprentice shaped your own personal and professional growth?
Amelia: Mentoring an apprentice has been extremely rewarding. Watching them start their career journey from day 1 and then comparing to where they are after their first week, month, 3 months and so on, fills us with so much pride.
This is our first experience mentoring someone new, so we feel like we’re in this ‘learning phase’ together; learning from each other, bouncing off ideas and all strengthening our skills at the same time.
On a personal level, it certainly has strengthened our confidence and adaptability.
What do you think is the biggest benefit of apprenticeships for companies & young people?
Emma: The benefits are huge for both parties!
For employers: we are getting an enthusiastic individual who wants to pursue a career in their chosen field, supported by their apprenticeship provider. They get given the tools and skills required for their job in easy, bitesize chunks, while still allowing them to make a difference in the workplace. In my experience, apprentices always bring a new, fresh perspective to the business, with plenty of ideas and always add huge value to the business.
For apprentices:
Being able to learn while earning, being provided with the right tools, training and skills to pursue their dream job, as well as receiving support, training and mentoring from a workplace is a huge benefit. Learning and development is a huge part of any job, however being provided with the right environment to put those skills into practice is invaluable.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to apprentices based on your mentoring experience?
Amelia: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Apprenticeships are all about learning and every challenge is an opportunity to grow.