National Apprenticeship Week: Celebrating six years of growth

For Apprenticeship Week, Charlie Harper talks about his experiences with Homes in Somerset, from apprentice to Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Last December I celebrated my sixth year working for Homes in Somerset. My journey from Digital Marketing Apprentice to Marketing & Communications Coordinator has given me great insight into the housing sector and given me amazing experience in the world of marketing.

I started as a Digital Marketing Apprentice in December 2018 working at Homes in Somerset four days a week and attending one study day a week at Bridgwater & Taunton College. My day at the college was divided into two course modules which included studying the world of marketing and advertising followed by computer coding and how SEO works. These two sections of my course both had an end of unit assessments which I am pleased to say I passed first try.

One of the greatest advantages of apprenticeships is the chance to earn while you learn. This financial support enabled me to focus on my training and education without the stress of student debt, making the entire experience even more appealing.

During my apprenticeship at Homes in Somerset, I developed key digital marketing skills such as social media management, content creation, SEO, email marketing, and analytics. These skills equipped me to create engaging content, optimize our online presence, and execute effective marketing campaigns, laying a solid foundation for my current role.

I would recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who is not planning on going to university because of the costs. In an apprenticeship you get paid to work, learn and gain valuable first-hand experience in a working environment.

I am lucky to have progressed through various roles within the team since, which helped me to gain extra experience and learn new skills. Such as teaching myself how to use graphic design tools and video animation software.

By learning these new graphic design skills, I have been able to elevate our online presence with social media graphics that standout. I have also improved the physical publications such as leaflets, booklets, and cards which has helped the organisation save money especially with creating the animated videos.

I am hoping to continue my studies in Digital Marketing at Homes in Somerset by undertaking a Level 4 Digital Marketing course in the near future.

Keep checking our recruitment pages to see when apprenticeship opportunities arise.