Q&A with first year rural apprentice, Millie Paterson

Hi Millie, what attracted you to an apprenticeship?

I was attracted to an apprenticeship over uni, as I was lucky enough to always know that this is the career I wanted and I’ve always learnt better putting theory into practice, so thought the best route for me would to be an apprenticeship, although I did have spaces at university to fall back on. 

Great - thanks for that! Now that you are around 5 months into your apprenticeship, how have you settled into life at Fisher German?

I’ve settled well into life at FG, everybody is really helpful both with uni work and professional work and are keen to help me if I struggle with a task. Having had to move away in order to work for FG, I’ve had support with helping here feel like home as living in Ashby has become a huge part of my life. Everybody’s friendly and it’s a great office to work from, I’ve already been given a lot of responsibility and been pushed to be the best I can be. 

Sounds like you are really settling in! Given that the transition for you has gone well, what would you say are the top 3 things about an apprenticeship?

1. Putting the theory into practice - it's the best way to learn in my opinion.
2. The time spent at University - you still get a flavour of the Uni lifestyle
3. The lack of student debt, with the same perks and outcomes of full time students - has to be a plus!!!

Sounds like a great platform to help push forward your career with a number of perks! We've heard about the apprenticeship, now tell us a fun fact about yourself :)

I moved from Shropshire in September to begin work, but regularly travel home to see my dogs, horses and family, a major plus of the weeks at Harper is getting the head back to the hills of shrops for a week, a place I absolutely love

Anything else that you would like to say about apprenticeships before we sign off?

I would 100% recommend apprenticeships to someone, especially if the course is something you’d consider at uni or it’s a career you want. You definitely have to know the end goal is what you want and be willing to work for it!