The Hardest Part

Hey,

So it's been a few days since I posted about getting an apprenticeship.
I said about my interview with Toni & Guy, and at the time I genuinely believed I was in with a good chance of success with that. Well, I wasn't. I still haven't been contacted and - in my experience of unsuccessful job applications - being ignored means a big fat NO.

This is obviously upsetting. I got my hopes up massively, and have been faced with another rejection. It got me down quite a lot, because as I'm over the age of 18 (when the government stop fully funding apprenticeships) Toni & Guy was the best chance I had.

I think I'm now in the region of about 20 rejections, and all of these (aside from T&G) have been because of my age! It does make me wonder just why the government bother making them available at older ages when no employer really wants to shell out the money to train you.

I think at the very least there should be an option to fund yourself, as I'm at a place now where my only opportunity will be to partake in a college course (at the cost of £1,600) and attempt to get a job from my Level 2 qualification from there.

This is annoying for several reasons.

1. Because the experience in the industry from an apprenticeship would be invaluable.
2. Because I will have to attend college 2 days a week, and somehow find a job that works in between that.
3. Because I do wonder whether I, a 20 year old woman with a clear goal in life, would be far more suited to the apprenticeship programme than a 16 year old fresh out of school who is doing an apprenticeship just because they aren't sure what else to do. (obviously this wouldn't apply to everyone, I'm just pointing out that being older I know far more about what I want in life than I did when I was 16)
4. Rather than being able to begin training within a month or so, I have to wait until September to begin.

I guess to conclude my post, I just want to point out that the older you are when you realise you want to get into this industry, the more considerably difficult it is, to acutally get in to the industry.

And there was me thinking age was a sign of experience.

Ah well! Life goes on, and there are other ways of getting to the end goal.

 - Alice