Do I need a lot of work experience to increase my chances of getting an apprenticeship?

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I feel as though with apprenticeships, work experience is looked at in a very high regard which makes sense but how does that compare to the grades of the student. Is there also certain types of work experience tech employers prefer such as working at a tech firm or are so they prefer social and problem solving skills e.g. taking calls at reception.
1 illack (Software Engineer | Degree Apprentice | 3rd Year) 1 month ago
illack

Firstly, having a type of work XP closely linked to the role you’re applying for is preferred, then after that company matters. [link removed] Development/Data/Network XP from any company is better than irrelevant XP for Google. That being said, I don’t think work XP outways your academic background unless it’s significant, [link removed] you were significantly involved in delivering a non-academic/tutorial software project or something where you can clearly relate skills between the XP & the job requirements. Social skills are still important and any XP is still valuable though so just be confident in trying to prove your ability!

2 M.A 1 month ago
M.A
 
(Original post by illack  1 month ago)
Firstly, having a type of work XP closely linked to the role you’re applying for is preferred, then after that company matters. [link removed] Development/Data/Network XP from any company is better than irrelevant XP for Google. That being said, I don’t think work XP outways your academic background unless it’s significant, [link removed] you were significantly involved in delivering a non-academic/tutorial software project or something where you can clearly relate skills between the XP & the job requirements. Social skills are still important and any XP is still valuable though so just be confident in trying to prove your ability!

  Would you say doing an online would be helpful such as a short coding one to show you're actually committed?

3 illack (Software Engineer | Degree Apprentice | 3rd Year) 1 month ago
illack
 
(Original post by illack  1 month ago)
Firstly, having a type of work XP closely linked to the role you’re applying for is preferred, then after that company matters. [link removed] Development/Data/Network XP from any company is better than irrelevant XP for Google. That being said, I don’t think work XP outways your academic background unless it’s significant, [link removed] you were significantly involved in delivering a non-academic/tutorial software project or something where you can clearly relate skills between the XP & the job requirements. Social skills are still important and any XP is still valuable though so just be confident in trying to prove your ability!
(Original post by M.A  1 month ago)
  Would you say doing an online would be helpful such as a short coding one to show you're actually committed?

Yes! We all are at different points, so if you can’t get work XP, then do a course or a decent amount of research on a software/tech topic. That’s what I did and that was enough on top of my education. I never did comp sci or ICT at gcse or a-level, I just had done one SQL course & knew abit about blockchain/digital twins/IoT

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