2 March 2018

Why print apprenticeships work

Here at the BPIF we support apprenticeships all year round and we're proud to be supporting National Apprenticeship Week 2018. To celebrate this and the wide variety of different and interesting print apprenticeships available, we've spoken to several of our apprenticeships to get their take on why print apprenticeships work!

Leah - Wide Format and Digital Print Operator, inPrint Colour

What attracted you to print? / How did you come to work in print?
In all honesty, I never planned to go into the print industry and it was never something I wanted to do, I'd never even thought about it. When I applied for the apprenticeship at InPrint Colour it was for a sales role. During the interview, I was offered the opportunity in the large format department printing as well as the apprenticeship role I originally applied for. At the time I didn't know what I wanted to do, as I had dropped out of college due to having anxiety and stress. My plan was to do something totally different and to start a fresh. I did interviews for other office based jobs and even completed trials which I didn't enjoy or found didn't challenge me. When they offered me this role in the interview, I thought, sure why not, not expecting it to come of anything. I'd never even thought of working in a printers, never mind thinking wide format printing was ever an option. Turns out that saying yes was the best decision I've ever made. I have loved every minute. I was so unhappy before and now I feel as if I have purpose in something that is so greatly satisfying. The people I work with are wonderful and the work I do is so varied and interesting.

What has been your greatest challenge?
I have challenges everyday as no job is the same. I get to see the work I produce around town and in the city, I can take pride in what I do and see how it is making a difference to the world.

What is it you most enjoy about your job?
If I had to pin point the thing I most enjoy, it has to be the relationships with the people I work with, it's just like one big family. I have never been happier.

What do you think the benefits of an apprenticeship are over alternative routes?
The apprenticeship itself has enabled me to be in a working environment as a pose to a classroom to which I really struggled with as it would bring me a lot of stress. Here, I can get one on one help in my education and have space and time to get over any anxiety. I know that I would never have been able to have the success I've had now had I have tried to carry on college and university because I would never have had the experience of others who have been in the industry and most of all, I'd probably have never known that this is something I love to do. Now, I have my own car and I'm saving up for a house, friends of mine who have gone to university are in debt and have no guarantee of jobs where as I'm in a stable job with future prospects, looking to a bright future.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years' time?
In ten years' time, I vision myself still with this company but I would like to have grown the company I'm in. In the last two years my department has been expanded due to the success I've had with it, adding a new machine and moving to a larger building and I look forward to furthering this and making it even more successful. Already I am learning another digital machine in a different department as I want to further my knowledge and widen my experience with different forms of printers. I will always be learning new machines.

Would you recommend a print apprenticeship to others?
I would recommend an apprenticeship to everyone and I would highly recommend it be a printing one as I know the opportunities are vast and the job will always have room for expansion.

To find out more about print apprenticeships click here.