September 2, 2026 • 26 mins
Thinking about taking a gap year, but worried you’d fall behind?
This week we’re joined by Blaise, who was certain they weren't going to university and took a gap year instead. They explain how by doing so they were able to land an apprenticeship in their chosen industry, travel abroad and get new skills.
Should I take a gap year? https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/gap-year/should-i-take-a-gap-year/
Gap year ideas: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/gap-year/gap-year-ideas/
How to plan your gap year: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/gap-year/how-to-plan-your-gap-year/
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(00:00):
But it came up so much in my interviewthat I thought if I hadn't done it,
what would I be talking about.
Because what else would I have done?
I feel like it's it's that typeof experience that sets you apart, right?
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts Prospects.
My name is Blaise Lamport.
I'm a legal apprentice at Jisc in my fourth year.
(00:20):
And before you undertook that,you took a gap year.
Yes I did.
So was it always the plan to take a gapyear?
Yeah. I never wanted to go to university.
I, I moved since I was 14.
I told my parents when I was 14,I said I didn't want to go to university,
and they were quite shocked becauseI was quite young to be thinking about that.
Yeah.
(00:40):
But I just, I just knewmy friend was applying
to university at the timeand it just didn't look appealing.
So my parents were like,always knew, they were always very supportive.
But I never had the inkling that it wassomething that I wanted to go ahead with.
So what I supposewhen you hit that sort of college A-level
(01:01):
era, was your plan to.
Did you have any clue?
Did you know about degree apprenticeships?
Did you?
Did you think you were justgoing to go into the world of work?
Or were you always going to be like,I'm going to take a year out.
I always knewI was going to do a gap year,
because I don't think I had a solid planof what was meant to come next.
And we had in school had some talksof apprenticeships and what you could do,
(01:24):
but it was more for like construction,bricklaying, very manual based jobs.
There was no sort of
like 9 to 5 corporate apprenticeshipsor whatever discussed to me.
So I thought, okay,I don't know what I'm going to do.
I'm not going to go to uni.
And I kind of thought uni, likeit's a last resort.
Like, I don't need to go in at 18.
You can go in whenever you fancy.
So I knewI was going to take the gap year,
(01:46):
and I knew thatI was going to have to go get a job
because I wanted the money to go out anddo things, and I wanted to go and travel.
So I always knew that. I didn't knowwhat I was going to do, and then it
kind of all just fell into placeas I started doing it, like one by one.
So talk, talk me through that process.
So I, I went in sixth form.
I said I don't want to do uni.
And they were very criticalof that decision.
(02:09):
It was a very, like where i’m fromit was a very high up school.
And I think schools sometimes get
better look like and looks betterif they get so many people to go to uni.
And they were very much like,
no, you know, union is the only wayfor you to ever progress.
If you want to go into a in a professionalcareer field, you need to go a union.
(02:31):
I said, it's just not it'snot something that I want to do.
And then you could still apply.
You could still apply for uni,you could still go.
And you know,
even if you get all these offers,you don't want to go,
you still apply itbut cost money to apply.
I thought, why am I paying all this money?Well, not all this money.
I don't know how much is or moneyto to apply to university, which,
and I knew in my heartwasn't going to accept it.
So I said no.
(02:52):
And then they kind of like, well,you're never going to do anything.
And I was like, okay, lovely.
Do you stay or you don't exist anymore?
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
And they were like, you get good grades.
Like I. Was like, yeah,but like I can still.
Go, like if I, if I have likea change of mind, I can go next year.
It's fine.
So I didn't go
and then I got my level and I was like,I don't know what I'm going to do.
(03:12):
And then I was on indeed quite a lot.
And I was like, I just need to findsome other flexible hours.
But like decent enough pay that I can go.
So I applied for this job
like a full time position,but with flexible shifts, and it was like
you could take off holidaywhenever you want.
There was no notice period.
So okay, I'll just I'll go do that.
(03:33):
And then Firebaseand I thought this is horrendous.
And it was likethe start of my freshman year career.
And I thoughtis this what I'm going to be like.
This is really wow.
We suddenly regretting like oh God,I should have gone to uni.
Well no I didn't think thatI should have gone to uni.
I kind of just thought, oh my God.
My friends
were living at a party on the weekendsand I am here in this big office building.
And it was, it was only like five days.It was like two weeks of training
(03:55):
I had to dobecause it was like for a tech thing.
And then I realized, I'mnot a tech person,
and I thought maybe I shouldn't be intact.
So I quit, right?
And expectedly, and I thought, oh, Igotta do something, I gotta do something.
And this video came up of this girland she was like, I'm gonna live in nanny.
If she's really rich people in America,I thought, isn't that nice job?
That's that's cool.
So now I looked and there's there'sa lot of opportunities where you can go
(04:16):
and be a living nannyfor people like called being an opera.
And I loved German in school,and I did it as a level,
and I thought I could live in Germanylike I quite like that.
So I applied and I reached out andand then you put
like all your details on the websiteand found these reach out to you
if they like what they seeand you reach out to them.
And that's kind of how it all started.
And then I went through thatand then I moved to Germany. Wow.
(04:40):
So that almost came out of nowhere.
Yeah, it was very honest.
I just knew that I couldn't do the office.
Like the reason I took the gap yearwas beside wanted some sort of freedom
before, like because I knewI was going to go into law of some point.
I always knew this was the the career pathI want to go down, but it's a very long
trip like training process.
And this is also you hearall these stories where people working
(05:02):
like 16 hour days.
And I thought beforeI tie myself down to a career,
I just want to have a year of somewhatfreedom while still making money.
So far, it's probably the best optionis to go abroad and travel, experience
a different culture,
learn another languageand just do it that way,
and then come back and then be like, okay,
now I need to think realisticallyof the career.
(05:22):
Yeah, okay. Thanks.
You are so brave
for a number of reasons.
I'm in awe of you.
Like, just generally gratz for being like,
I don't want to get any and then, like,sticking to your guns
because that conversationwent very differently for me.
I was like, I don't want to get a union.And they went, you shared.
So I went, okay.
I went so really well done for like
(05:45):
not being pressured into it and then,
taking the leap to move abroadwithout any seeming fear of that.
Yeah.
Well, it wasn't my fear that I realizedit was my parents that were the the real.
Well, I didn't tell them thatI had done any of this
until I got the offer through,and I'd accepted the offer to move abroad.
And then I said to my mum, you know,in a month I'm going to move to Germany.
(06:06):
And we were at dinner and she was like,she said, no, you're not.
And I said, I've,I've just signed this thing
like I am actually going
because I knew that if I told herbefore I did it, she would say no.
So then it was kind of like that.
Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
And I thought,if I just do it like I'm a team kind.
Of dressed with you. Hello.
(06:27):
I really say,can you really say no? No. Not really.
And then she was kind of like, okay, well,I want to meet the family.
So we had like a radio calland a sky from whatever.
And then she's like, oh,I suppose I can't stop you.
And I was like,look, I'm a sensible woman.
Like, I if I go and it's unsafe, I'll justcome on, you know, like it's fine.
But also to when the website went through,you have to register and you have to do
(06:47):
DBS tracks like there's also stuff.
So I said it's not like they haven't hadlike they have no criminal record.
It's not likethey're just like a random. Yeah.
You know, just wanderinginto the German wilderness.
So then I thought that was that was fine.
So then I thought, you know, the lastresort, I'll just get a plane home.
Yeah. So it was.
I didn't think it was a difficult choicefor me.
My parents.It was about. Yeah, definitely twice.
And just in terms of the logisticsof this decision,
(07:12):
like it's it'sbrilliant and it's exciting,
it doesn't feel like something that'spotentially available to like everyone.
Like was there a cost behind, you know,picking up and moving to Germany.
And even though it was for employment,did you have to get like visas in place?
Did you have to book flights,like things that might not be attainable
(07:33):
for people that perhaps don'thave that sort of money?
The biggest cost was the visa,and the issue was the the visa was there's
two German embassies in the UK or twothat you can go to if you live in England.
Wales depends on where you live to dependon which embassy after go to.
So I didn't know this at the timebecause it's very unclear.
So I went to London,which has a German embassy,
(07:53):
and then they said to me,why not the embassy for you?
And I thought I literallybooked an appointment like,
and I've paid to come back.
So I paid to go down London.
And then I was like, okay,well it was me, my mum.
I said, well, just make a day.
And we had a day in London.
And then I said, okay,we'll go to the right one this time,
which is an Edinburgh which is luckless,where I live in Excel. Well
for me,
and was so much closer, I thought,okay bro, we'll go to Edinburgh,
(08:16):
we'll have the appointment,we'll make a deal.
But run up, we had the appointment andthen it doesn't cost for the appointment.
What does cost?
Whether isthen you have to go to a speaking exam
because you can't be in a pair
if you don't have some level baselevel of language understanding.
So you have to be able to provethat you have like, I don't know
exactly why I think it's called A2,it's the language level certificate.
(08:36):
And you have.
So you have to go to this buildingand then they give you a speaking exam
where they just ask you like what'syour name or whatever, like in German.
But I was fine just on my level.
So I thought, yeah, you know,this is easy.
So I did that and then they were like,okay, your visa will come and help along.
So it costs train tickets.
The appointment is free.
(08:57):
But then to do the examyou have to pay like 40 pounds.
I think it was at the time.
And then I spoke to my family and I saidand they were,
they'd had like loads of old pairsbefore they had one like every year.
So I was saying, oh,I'm going to come over.
And they were like, well, we'll book
your plane tickets, we'll book this,we'll do this for you.
And then they gopick you up at the airport
and we'll put you on our car insurance.
(09:17):
So for me, it didn't costany money to do it like that.
The only thing that costsmoney was the visa,
because they had had so many other personbefore.
We were like, we understand,
like, you're coming to work for us,so we'll pay for you to come to us.
That's very cool.
So then that. Was that's not fine. Yeah.
But then that's about findingthe right family and stuff like that.
I it probably differs for a lot of people.
So how long were you intendingto be out in Germany for.
(09:40):
Yeah. And, and were you know.
Oh no, it was a bit prickly.
Not for multitude of reasons.
I was there for until April.
So September to April.
Basicallyit was a lot of different things.
I had one family lined upand then I moved families to another one.
(10:04):
Not because we didn't.
I didn't like the first family.
We got along great,but they only needed like 12 weeks, right?
And then they were like,we only need 12 weeks.
And then we are thinkingof moving a Spain or something.
And I was like, okay, fine.
So I did 12 weeks and then I was like,okay, I'll move.
And my friend was like,oh, we know this really great family.
So I was in Germany already, so I thought,okay, I'll meet them in person.
I met them and they were lovely.
(10:24):
They had one boy,whereas other family had three boys.
So I was like a lot less work, right?
One boy, seven years old, and it wasshe was Chinese and he was German.
So it was like a multiculturalfamily. Lovely.
I was like,okay, maybe I can learn some Chinese.
And we had like a few sit down dinnersand it was so, so nice, so lovely.
And then I moved in with them.
And then slowly the facade just dropped.
(10:47):
Down.
And it turned out that they had lies,and they were actually on the brink
of a divorce, a very messy divorce,and they couldn't have a conversation
with each otherwithout screaming at each other.
So a lot of the timesyou'd be sitting having dinner
and one of them would come home from work,and all of a sudden everyone's
screaming and everyone's shouting,and I thought, I just, I can't do this.
(11:07):
I can't stay here.
Like, everyone's screaming all the time.
Like, you can't, you can't have likean hour of pieces and boost in the house.
So then she moved out halfway through mystay with them and rented an apartment.
Then I was like,almost like a decorator century.
She was like, well, pay it in the wallstogether. We'll do this.
And I was like, oh my God.
And it was literally like being childof divorce, like MP.
(11:27):
And I was like, okay, so now I was like,I was with the kid
and they were like,you can go with your dad five days, weeks.
And I was with the dad five years a weekand then my mum weekends.
I was like, this is.
No way you signed. Up for no,you know what I mean?
I felt really bad forthe kid. But also I was like,
this isn't what I wanted. Wow.
So what skills and qualitiesdid you pick up?
Experience?
(11:48):
I'm semi joking, but, like, resilience.
I suppose so.
To be honest,it was hot, was 18 and you know, I didn't.
I didn't want to call my dad and be like,maybe I shouldn't.
Yeah I was going to saywere your parents a little bit like, yes.
I mean weren't nearly as smug about it,but they were a little bit you could.
(12:09):
Like, sense the smugness of like,no, no, we just care about your safety.
Exactly.
At that point,I had been six months and I had fun,
and my parents knew the situationlike I was keeping them updated.
So I wasn't like, omitting anything.
But I got to a point where I said tomy dad, called me and he was like,
you need to leave.
And I said, dad, I can't.
I can't just leave.
Like I've made a commitmentto be here for.
(12:30):
It was until September that year. It'slike I make money.
And also the other problem was
I had booked a family holidaywith me on it, and I thought,
I've made a commitment to be hereand there's a holiday in July.
And I wanted to golike it was a nice holiday.
They were a wealthy family.
I thought, I'll never going to havethis opportunity ever again.
My dad was like,you need to get on this plane
or I'm coming to Germanyand I will go, you myself.
(12:52):
And I was like, okay,so now I had to sit down and be,
like I said, down with the dad,who was a lot nicer, and I said,
I spend everything.
And he was like, yeah, I totally get it.
But I think the lesson learnedwas sometimes
even though you make commitment,you have to what your limits are.
And my limits were
I can't be here while you're like,screaming at each other all the time.
(13:12):
And and then he started. Yeah.
And then he startedlike bringing people whom.
And I was like, this is anyou've really hit the limit now.
So now for even thoughI've made a commitment to you
and your family,and I'm going to have to put myself
first you and say respectfully,you need to find someone else.
And, and and that was hardbecause I thought, like,
I don't think I have a problemsigning up for myself.
But also, I think the big problem was like
(13:33):
I had agreed to do something,and I don't like going back on my word.
And I thought, if there's any way I couldhave stayed, like I would have stayed,
but my dad really hit a homeand he was like,
he can't pub this for anotherlike six months.
And I thought, yeah, that. Is.
That is true, I can't. Yeah.
So what you've doneApril through to September.
So you'd been in Germany for six months.
September through the Air Force,and I was Manastir April to September.
(13:57):
And then I left like the middle of Apriland said, I'm sorry, like, I have to go.
What happened then? Like, did you.
Were you immediately able to be like,right, September's coming up.
Do I need to start applying for anything?
It was a very big coincidence.
I think every like when I say everythingfell into place in my this is the true.
I mean, so I was in Germanyand I'd had this chat where I said,
and this was three weeks before I left.
(14:19):
I said, look, then if I continued and I,he didn't really know what was happening
with the mumbecause obviously they weren't together
and I was telling himall these things that happened
and he was yes, I really understand, like,I can appreciate your situation.
Whatever.
So then after that I had a laptop with meand I just searched
like legal apprenticeshipsor something like that or apprenticeships.
And I was like, I just need something.
(14:40):
Even if it's a two year thing
and something I'm really not interestedin, just to get me on the ladder of,
you know, I've got the experience built,I start rebuilding my CV pretty much
and really came across a websiteand I thought, okay, let me have a look.
And there was two apprenticeships,end of the apprenticeship
window and one of them was for Jisc,which is where I work now.
(15:00):
And I thought, I've never heard of themhaving no idea what they do,
but it can't hurt.
You just put in my CVto all these different places.
So I put my CV in, didn'thear anything back, move back home,
and then all of a suddenI got a phone call and it was this guy.
And he's like, I'mcalling on behalf of Jisc if you want to.
We've got like a group of younext Thursday.
I was like, oh, brilliant, lovely.
(15:23):
And then so literally I came back.
Then two days laterI was out with lunch with my mum,
and then he then this guy for me
when I was at lunch saying, we can havean interview for you next week.
And I was like, yeah, well, lovely.
So I had the interview the following week,and then the week
after that I got a phone call back saying,you have the job if you want it.
And I thought, yeah, okay,yeah, I'll take the job.
(15:44):
So then he was like,he's still in September.
And I was like, okay, lovely.
And that was like end of April time.
So I thought, you know, I just needlike a job to get me through September.
So I started working like a zero
hour contract at a pub and I was like,brilliant, this is everything I need. So.
And it literally or like it was a very bigcoincidence that just all happened.
Wow, Hannah.
(16:05):
Because when I came back,my mum was giving me.
The are you gonna do?You never should have gone.
You should build your CV.
And I was like, yeah, I know.
Do you think you should have gone?
Do you agree with her or are you like,I would not be who I am today.
John. The what? It's a really fun story.
Like a lot of stuff happened.
There was a lot of, like, little stories.
And then my friends had, like,
the best face times of their liveswhen I was like, time.
(16:27):
And I'm like, can you hearwhat's going on in the background?
I always great,
like I've made, like when I work here,like people are like, oh, what did you do?
And it's still like, it's just likea good opportunity to be like, yeah.
Isn't this crazy if you tell them?
And also, it came up a lot in my interviewwhen I applied for Jisc.
I brought up in a lot of a moreprofessional way during my interview.
(16:49):
But the the my boss now,she was so lovely.
She was like,oh my God, this is brilliant.
Like,you know, you're so you're so adventurous.
You're so I was like,yeah, I'm, I'm all those things.
But it came up so much in my headand I thought if I hadn't done it,
what would I be talking about?
Like, because what else would I have done?
I feel like it's it's thattype of experience that sets you apart.
(17:12):
Right?
So even thoughit was a bit of a wild ride,
like if I had, I feel likeif I had gone down the typical route,
I kind of probably would have beenjust another face across.
But I think it's those like,really weird things that like,
sometimesthat's what people are looking for.
It's just those ridiculous.
Something that makes you send out.
And then recently,I want a job brought up to me
(17:32):
and he's like, do you rememberhe said this in your interview?
And I was like, yeah, I do for that.
And he was like, yeah, it was so weird.
But even now I remember,I was like, yeah, exactly.
It's just a memorable story.
So I don't I don't regret going.
I really enjoyed it for the most part.
I think it was a great time. Yeah.
Amazing.
And and did youdid you improve upon your language skills?
(17:53):
Did you experience another culture
or were you just too busywrapped up in this family drama?
I did I did a language course out there,which was it was really good.
And the family also paid for that,which was very nice of them.
I did that with the first family actually,so I would go,
I think my class was likeeight till 11 every morning.
(18:13):
So when the kids were at school, so theythe agreement was they did the morning
routine and I would do language classand then I would come back.
And then one of the kids was four.
So he was a nursery until 1:00.
And I would go pick him up from nursery,bring them back and then spend the evening
with the kids until about 6 or 7and then you get the weekends off.
So I was going to this language classto improve my skill.
(18:33):
And then I think that when you realizehow little
you actually know, because I was like,oh hell.
And it was no one,no one else spoke English.
So it was literallyyou could only speak in German.
And I was like, wow, okay, intense.
And then I made a few friends.
The first time they went out, they hadthey had friends.
I had a purse as well.
Some we would all go out togetherand they were like Italian
(18:55):
or Russian and stuff like that.
So I'm used to gather you think, oh,this is nice.
And we went iceskating and stuff like that.
So it was a lovely experienceand the family wasn't like the whole focus
at the time.
That which was also very good.
Yeah. Fantastic.
Oh my God, this is amazing.
So I guess for somebody. Listening.
Who is freaking out, eitherthey haven't got their expected A-levels
(19:18):
or they truly just don't know what to do,or they're also thinking
they don't want to go down the formaleducational route of university. Do.
What advice do you have for them.
So someone who doesn't knowwhat they're doing?
I think a big part of life is learningto adapt and handle what life does in.
It's a big part of life,not even in the early career.
Like even now.
(19:38):
Sometimes stuff comes in to workand you're like, what the hell is this?
What am I doing?
But it's a bigpart of life is learning to die.
So I think it's all about your mindsetand how your viewing things.
I think it's so easyto get wrapped up in the negative like,
oh my God, everything's ruined.
I can't do anything.
I have no options.
But there actually areso many opportunities, especially now.
Apprenticeships are such a big thing thateverywhere there's so many big companies
(20:02):
now that are putting out,apprenticeship schemes.
So I think if you need a sort oftake a step back and have a look
at your bigger picture and think,if you don't know what you want to do,
is there anything you like?
Is there anything that you like?
And you think, okay,
maybe I could do this as a careeror it's a skill
you think you're really good atand you think,
okay, let me go look at opportunitieswhere I have those skills.
(20:25):
You know, there's so many opportunitiesthat you can just look at.
But if you.
So if you're so focused on one thing,it's really easy
to miss everything elsethat could actually really benefit you.
And so, yes, I think when I was doingand when I was like looking,
my whole approach was just kind ofhave to see what comes at you.
Like, you can't you can't just go there.
I'm like, I want to do this and only this,because then you really get stuck
(20:47):
in this like downward spiral of are,My God, I'm so lost.
You just have to look at everything aroundyou and think, okay, what's for me?
And Isuppose a gap here isn't a death sentence.
It doesn't delay you skills.
It doesn't delay your abilityto join the working world.
Like, if anything, it helps you.
I think it is a very big help.
(21:08):
I think there's so many thingsthat you can do in a gap year
and eventually, like so you do a gap year,you want to go to uni, you do that
even when you come out other side of uni,you can always look back and go,
I have these skills for my gap yearor I did this in my gap year.
That's what sesame apart.
So I feel like.
And it's no disrespectto anyone going down the university route.
I feel like sometimes you can'tjust become a face in the crowd of people
(21:30):
going down the universityand just going through the process.
I think a lot of times what employers wantis someone who is standing out
and being proactive and doing thingsthat other people aren't doing.
So you you want the experience of,actually, I'm going to go away,
I'm going to do something that I like,and it still don't look good,
and I'm going to be able to reflecton that time and improve.
(21:50):
And that's what employers, what appearswant people who are able to to do that.
Nothing. You can't do that at university.
But I think it is easierto take the gap year.
And so we focus on doing stuffthat makes you happy and.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
Just in case there's like a fear of like,
oh God, ifI take a gap here, it's going to me.
I grab you're really kind of fit andas I've said, really benefited my career.
(22:13):
I don't think I would have got this jobif I hadn't taken a gap year.
So I just don't think I think when I wasfresh, 18, I don't think I had the skills
or the communication ability,like in my interview when I was talking.
I don't think I could have talked
like that fresh out of A-levels, becauseyou're not taught how to talk like that.
You're not taught reallyhow to think in a career minded way.
You're taught how to studyand how to revise.
(22:33):
But taking a gap year,
you kind of can look back and see,oh, actually, this is how much I've grown.
Let me apply this, thatwhen I'm looking at my jobs.
I suppose my last question would be,was there ever a moment during your gap
year where you would compareyour journey to your friends and have any
sort of regrets or panic that they werein a different place to you?
(22:57):
No, I don't reckon, Harrison.
I don't think because I don't eventhen I had some level of understanding
that what we were doingwas two very different things.
And I think the fact that I didn'twant to go to university and,
and then did a gap year kind of help,I think if I wanted to go to university
and then saw my friends go into universitywhile I was on a gap year,
I kind of had a bit of a bit like,oh, that's what I wanted to do.
(23:17):
But because I didn't want to do thatand it kind of had no appeal to me,
I always kind of thought,it's suiting you.
It's not sitting thereand even looking at their lifestyles.
I was it was like fresh out of Covidwhen my friends went to university
and there were so many issueswith universities at the time of,
you know, face to face learning and,
and all these other restrictionswere being put in place.
(23:38):
And I kind of thought it probably suits mebetter to be from home.
So I think not in my gap year.
I think the only comparisonI really would make or have made since
my friends of community is actuallywhen they graduated university,
which was when I was inour apprenticeship, and I kind of thought,
I'm not falling behindbecause my partnership of seven years.
So it's a five year degree tier training.
(23:59):
And I thought, oh my God,everyone's now got their degrees.
I don't have a degree yet.
And then someone would have takentheir like, you didn't even have a degree.
And I was like, I know, I know.
And everyone I knowwas like publishing on Instagram.
Look at me, I got a first or whatever.
And I was like, oh shoot, I should,I should have just gone to invest
and just have the degree.
And then I thought,but I think it was a very like,
(24:21):
oh my god like, panicking moment.
And then when I looked at it
rationally a few days later, I thought,no, I shouldn't have done a university.
I mean, I thinkand then I suppose the benefit of then
doing the legal apprenticeshipis to qualify and become a solicitor
probably takes about the same time anywayas the apprenticeships.
You do a three year degreeand then a qualifying
Sam that takes two years, and then you doa training contract that takes years.
(24:44):
So really until that both the same land.
So when I looked back, I thought, actuallyI'm probably doing it the better way
because at least I'm getting paid,you know, to, to be here to do this.
And then I've got the moneyand the experience and I've got,
I've got the job security of like,I'm here, I'm in a position.
Whereas I think a lot of people,
especially I talk to my friends now,which is what, a year and a bit after
(25:06):
they've graduated and they're like,
I can't find anything becausethe job market isn't isn't brilliant.
Really? Yeah.
So when they were doing that, I was like,
actually, in retrospect,I have made a very good decision
to do the apprenticeship, Ruth,because it suited my lifestyle better.
But also now I kind of have some stability
about at leastuntil the end of my apprenticeship.
And so I thought, yeah,but in emotional moments
(25:29):
I think it is very easyto make the comparisons,
especially when you're like you're feelinglow, maybe something's not gone right.
And you're like looking at everyone'sInstagram.
You're like, everyone's doneso much better than I have.
And then in reality,that's just social media.
That's just peopleposting the best bits of their life.
But like how many bamboos they also hadwhere they're looking at your social media
going, wow, I should have been.
So then I thought, it's probably easierjust to not not compare them.
(25:52):
But it is hard.
I think it's really easy to fall the trap.
There's loads of timeswhen I've looked people, I'm like,
oh yeah, okay, I gotI understand now, but then I
then I come back and work and I'm like,I love my job, I love being here.
I love doing everything.So I think. That's great.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Yes. No problem. It's lovely to be here.
But it came up so much in my interviewthat I thought if I hadn't done it,
what would I be talking about.
Because what else would I have done?
I feel like it's it's that typeof experience that sets you apart, right?
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts Prospects.
My name is Blaise Lamport.
I'm a legal apprentice at Jisc in my fourth year.
(00:20):
And before you undertook that,you took a gap year.
Yes I did.
So was it always the plan to take a gapyear?
Yeah. I never wanted to go to university.
I, I moved since I was 14.
I told my parents when I was 14,I said I didn't want to go to university,
and they were quite shocked becauseI was quite young to be thinking about that.
Yeah.
(00:40):
But I just, I just knewmy friend was applying
to university at the timeand it just didn't look appealing.
So my parents were like,always knew, they were always very supportive.
But I never had the inkling that it wassomething that I wanted to go ahead with.
So what I supposewhen you hit that sort of college A-level
(01:01):
era, was your plan to.
Did you have any clue?
Did you know about degree apprenticeships?
Did you?
Did you think you were justgoing to go into the world of work?
Or were you always going to be like,I'm going to take a year out.
I always knewI was going to do a gap year,
because I don't think I had a solid planof what was meant to come next.
And we had in school had some talksof apprenticeships and what you could do,
(01:24):
but it was more for like construction,bricklaying, very manual based jobs.
There was no sort of
like 9 to 5 corporate apprenticeshipsor whatever discussed to me.
So I thought, okay,I don't know what I'm going to do.
I'm not going to go to uni.
And I kind of thought uni, likeit's a last resort.
Like, I don't need to go in at 18.
You can go in whenever you fancy.
So I knewI was going to take the gap year,
(01:46):
and I knew thatI was going to have to go get a job
because I wanted the money to go out anddo things, and I wanted to go and travel.
So I always knew that. I didn't knowwhat I was going to do, and then it
kind of all just fell into placeas I started doing it, like one by one.
So talk, talk me through that process.
So I, I went in sixth form.
I said I don't want to do uni.
And they were very criticalof that decision.
(02:09):
It was a very, like where i’m fromit was a very high up school.
And I think schools sometimes get
better look like and looks betterif they get so many people to go to uni.
And they were very much like,
no, you know, union is the only wayfor you to ever progress.
If you want to go into a in a professionalcareer field, you need to go a union.
(02:31):
I said, it's just not it'snot something that I want to do.
And then you could still apply.
You could still apply for uni,you could still go.
And you know,
even if you get all these offers,you don't want to go,
you still apply itbut cost money to apply.
I thought, why am I paying all this money?Well, not all this money.
I don't know how much is or moneyto to apply to university, which,
and I knew in my heartwasn't going to accept it.
So I said no.
(02:52):
And then they kind of like, well,you're never going to do anything.
And I was like, okay, lovely.
Do you stay or you don't exist anymore?
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
And they were like, you get good grades.
Like I. Was like, yeah,but like I can still.
Go, like if I, if I have likea change of mind, I can go next year.
It's fine.
So I didn't go
and then I got my level and I was like,I don't know what I'm going to do.
(03:12):
And then I was on indeed quite a lot.
And I was like, I just need to findsome other flexible hours.
But like decent enough pay that I can go.
So I applied for this job
like a full time position,but with flexible shifts, and it was like
you could take off holidaywhenever you want.
There was no notice period.
So okay, I'll just I'll go do that.
(03:33):
And then Firebaseand I thought this is horrendous.
And it was likethe start of my freshman year career.
And I thoughtis this what I'm going to be like.
This is really wow.
We suddenly regretting like oh God,I should have gone to uni.
Well no I didn't think thatI should have gone to uni.
I kind of just thought, oh my God.
My friends
were living at a party on the weekendsand I am here in this big office building.
And it was, it was only like five days.It was like two weeks of training
(03:55):
I had to dobecause it was like for a tech thing.
And then I realized, I'mnot a tech person,
and I thought maybe I shouldn't be intact.
So I quit, right?
And expectedly, and I thought, oh, Igotta do something, I gotta do something.
And this video came up of this girland she was like, I'm gonna live in nanny.
If she's really rich people in America,I thought, isn't that nice job?
That's that's cool.
So now I looked and there's there'sa lot of opportunities where you can go
(04:16):
and be a living nannyfor people like called being an opera.
And I loved German in school,and I did it as a level,
and I thought I could live in Germanylike I quite like that.
So I applied and I reached out andand then you put
like all your details on the websiteand found these reach out to you
if they like what they seeand you reach out to them.
And that's kind of how it all started.
And then I went through thatand then I moved to Germany. Wow.
(04:40):
So that almost came out of nowhere.
Yeah, it was very honest.
I just knew that I couldn't do the office.
Like the reason I took the gap yearwas beside wanted some sort of freedom
before, like because I knewI was going to go into law of some point.
I always knew this was the the career pathI want to go down, but it's a very long
trip like training process.
And this is also you hearall these stories where people working
(05:02):
like 16 hour days.
And I thought beforeI tie myself down to a career,
I just want to have a year of somewhatfreedom while still making money.
So far, it's probably the best optionis to go abroad and travel, experience
a different culture,
learn another languageand just do it that way,
and then come back and then be like, okay,
now I need to think realisticallyof the career.
(05:22):
Yeah, okay. Thanks.
You are so brave
for a number of reasons.
I'm in awe of you.
Like, just generally gratz for being like,
I don't want to get any and then, like,sticking to your guns
because that conversationwent very differently for me.
I was like, I don't want to get a union.And they went, you shared.
So I went, okay.
I went so really well done for like
(05:45):
not being pressured into it and then,
taking the leap to move abroadwithout any seeming fear of that.
Yeah.
Well, it wasn't my fear that I realizedit was my parents that were the the real.
Well, I didn't tell them thatI had done any of this
until I got the offer through,and I'd accepted the offer to move abroad.
And then I said to my mum, you know,in a month I'm going to move to Germany.
(06:06):
And we were at dinner and she was like,she said, no, you're not.
And I said, I've,I've just signed this thing
like I am actually going
because I knew that if I told herbefore I did it, she would say no.
So then it was kind of like that.
Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
And I thought,if I just do it like I'm a team kind.
Of dressed with you. Hello.
(06:27):
I really say,can you really say no? No. Not really.
And then she was kind of like, okay, well,I want to meet the family.
So we had like a radio calland a sky from whatever.
And then she's like, oh,I suppose I can't stop you.
And I was like,look, I'm a sensible woman.
Like, I if I go and it's unsafe, I'll justcome on, you know, like it's fine.
But also to when the website went through,you have to register and you have to do
(06:47):
DBS tracks like there's also stuff.
So I said it's not like they haven't hadlike they have no criminal record.
It's not likethey're just like a random. Yeah.
You know, just wanderinginto the German wilderness.
So then I thought that was that was fine.
So then I thought, you know, the lastresort, I'll just get a plane home.
Yeah. So it was.
I didn't think it was a difficult choicefor me.
My parents.It was about. Yeah, definitely twice.
And just in terms of the logisticsof this decision,
(07:12):
like it's it'sbrilliant and it's exciting,
it doesn't feel like something that'spotentially available to like everyone.
Like was there a cost behind, you know,picking up and moving to Germany.
And even though it was for employment,did you have to get like visas in place?
Did you have to book flights,like things that might not be attainable
(07:33):
for people that perhaps don'thave that sort of money?
The biggest cost was the visa,and the issue was the the visa was there's
two German embassies in the UK or twothat you can go to if you live in England.
Wales depends on where you live to dependon which embassy after go to.
So I didn't know this at the timebecause it's very unclear.
So I went to London,which has a German embassy,
(07:53):
and then they said to me,why not the embassy for you?
And I thought I literallybooked an appointment like,
and I've paid to come back.
So I paid to go down London.
And then I was like, okay,well it was me, my mum.
I said, well, just make a day.
And we had a day in London.
And then I said, okay,we'll go to the right one this time,
which is an Edinburgh which is luckless,where I live in Excel. Well
for me,
and was so much closer, I thought,okay bro, we'll go to Edinburgh,
(08:16):
we'll have the appointment,we'll make a deal.
But run up, we had the appointment andthen it doesn't cost for the appointment.
What does cost?
Whether isthen you have to go to a speaking exam
because you can't be in a pair
if you don't have some level baselevel of language understanding.
So you have to be able to provethat you have like, I don't know
exactly why I think it's called A2,it's the language level certificate.
(08:36):
And you have.
So you have to go to this buildingand then they give you a speaking exam
where they just ask you like what'syour name or whatever, like in German.
But I was fine just on my level.
So I thought, yeah, you know,this is easy.
So I did that and then they were like,okay, your visa will come and help along.
So it costs train tickets.
The appointment is free.
(08:57):
But then to do the examyou have to pay like 40 pounds.
I think it was at the time.
And then I spoke to my family and I saidand they were,
they'd had like loads of old pairsbefore they had one like every year.
So I was saying, oh,I'm going to come over.
And they were like, well, we'll book
your plane tickets, we'll book this,we'll do this for you.
And then they gopick you up at the airport
and we'll put you on our car insurance.
(09:17):
So for me, it didn't costany money to do it like that.
The only thing that costsmoney was the visa,
because they had had so many other personbefore.
We were like, we understand,
like, you're coming to work for us,so we'll pay for you to come to us.
That's very cool.
So then that. Was that's not fine. Yeah.
But then that's about findingthe right family and stuff like that.
I it probably differs for a lot of people.
So how long were you intendingto be out in Germany for.
(09:40):
Yeah. And, and were you know.
Oh no, it was a bit prickly.
Not for multitude of reasons.
I was there for until April.
So September to April.
Basicallyit was a lot of different things.
I had one family lined upand then I moved families to another one.
(10:04):
Not because we didn't.
I didn't like the first family.
We got along great,but they only needed like 12 weeks, right?
And then they were like,we only need 12 weeks.
And then we are thinkingof moving a Spain or something.
And I was like, okay, fine.
So I did 12 weeks and then I was like,okay, I'll move.
And my friend was like,oh, we know this really great family.
So I was in Germany already, so I thought,okay, I'll meet them in person.
I met them and they were lovely.
(10:24):
They had one boy,whereas other family had three boys.
So I was like a lot less work, right?
One boy, seven years old, and it wasshe was Chinese and he was German.
So it was like a multiculturalfamily. Lovely.
I was like,okay, maybe I can learn some Chinese.
And we had like a few sit down dinnersand it was so, so nice, so lovely.
And then I moved in with them.
And then slowly the facade just dropped.
(10:47):
Down.
And it turned out that they had lies,and they were actually on the brink
of a divorce, a very messy divorce,and they couldn't have a conversation
with each otherwithout screaming at each other.
So a lot of the timesyou'd be sitting having dinner
and one of them would come home from work,and all of a sudden everyone's
screaming and everyone's shouting,and I thought, I just, I can't do this.
(11:07):
I can't stay here.
Like, everyone's screaming all the time.
Like, you can't, you can't have likean hour of pieces and boost in the house.
So then she moved out halfway through mystay with them and rented an apartment.
Then I was like,almost like a decorator century.
She was like, well, pay it in the wallstogether. We'll do this.
And I was like, oh my God.
And it was literally like being childof divorce, like MP.
(11:27):
And I was like, okay, so now I was like,I was with the kid
and they were like,you can go with your dad five days, weeks.
And I was with the dad five years a weekand then my mum weekends.
I was like, this is.
No way you signed. Up for no,you know what I mean?
I felt really bad forthe kid. But also I was like,
this isn't what I wanted. Wow.
So what skills and qualitiesdid you pick up?
Experience?
(11:48):
I'm semi joking, but, like, resilience.
I suppose so.
To be honest,it was hot, was 18 and you know, I didn't.
I didn't want to call my dad and be like,maybe I shouldn't.
Yeah I was going to saywere your parents a little bit like, yes.
I mean weren't nearly as smug about it,but they were a little bit you could.
(12:09):
Like, sense the smugness of like,no, no, we just care about your safety.
Exactly.
At that point,I had been six months and I had fun,
and my parents knew the situationlike I was keeping them updated.
So I wasn't like, omitting anything.
But I got to a point where I said tomy dad, called me and he was like,
you need to leave.
And I said, dad, I can't.
I can't just leave.
Like I've made a commitmentto be here for.
(12:30):
It was until September that year. It'slike I make money.
And also the other problem was
I had booked a family holidaywith me on it, and I thought,
I've made a commitment to be hereand there's a holiday in July.
And I wanted to golike it was a nice holiday.
They were a wealthy family.
I thought, I'll never going to havethis opportunity ever again.
My dad was like,you need to get on this plane
or I'm coming to Germanyand I will go, you myself.
(12:52):
And I was like, okay,so now I had to sit down and be,
like I said, down with the dad,who was a lot nicer, and I said,
I spend everything.
And he was like, yeah, I totally get it.
But I think the lesson learnedwas sometimes
even though you make commitment,you have to what your limits are.
And my limits were
I can't be here while you're like,screaming at each other all the time.
(13:12):
And and then he started. Yeah.
And then he startedlike bringing people whom.
And I was like, this is anyou've really hit the limit now.
So now for even thoughI've made a commitment to you
and your family,and I'm going to have to put myself
first you and say respectfully,you need to find someone else.
And, and and that was hardbecause I thought, like,
I don't think I have a problemsigning up for myself.
But also, I think the big problem was like
(13:33):
I had agreed to do something,and I don't like going back on my word.
And I thought, if there's any way I couldhave stayed, like I would have stayed,
but my dad really hit a homeand he was like,
he can't pub this for anotherlike six months.
And I thought, yeah, that. Is.
That is true, I can't. Yeah.
So what you've doneApril through to September.
So you'd been in Germany for six months.
September through the Air Force,and I was Manastir April to September.
(13:57):
And then I left like the middle of Apriland said, I'm sorry, like, I have to go.
What happened then? Like, did you.
Were you immediately able to be like,right, September's coming up.
Do I need to start applying for anything?
It was a very big coincidence.
I think every like when I say everythingfell into place in my this is the true.
I mean, so I was in Germanyand I'd had this chat where I said,
and this was three weeks before I left.
(14:19):
I said, look, then if I continued and I,he didn't really know what was happening
with the mumbecause obviously they weren't together
and I was telling himall these things that happened
and he was yes, I really understand, like,I can appreciate your situation.
Whatever.
So then after that I had a laptop with meand I just searched
like legal apprenticeshipsor something like that or apprenticeships.
And I was like, I just need something.
(14:40):
Even if it's a two year thing
and something I'm really not interestedin, just to get me on the ladder of,
you know, I've got the experience built,I start rebuilding my CV pretty much
and really came across a websiteand I thought, okay, let me have a look.
And there was two apprenticeships,end of the apprenticeship
window and one of them was for Jisc,which is where I work now.
(15:00):
And I thought, I've never heard of themhaving no idea what they do,
but it can't hurt.
You just put in my CVto all these different places.
So I put my CV in, didn'thear anything back, move back home,
and then all of a suddenI got a phone call and it was this guy.
And he's like, I'mcalling on behalf of Jisc if you want to.
We've got like a group of younext Thursday.
I was like, oh, brilliant, lovely.
(15:23):
And then so literally I came back.
Then two days laterI was out with lunch with my mum,
and then he then this guy for me
when I was at lunch saying, we can havean interview for you next week.
And I was like, yeah, well, lovely.
So I had the interview the following week,and then the week
after that I got a phone call back saying,you have the job if you want it.
And I thought, yeah, okay,yeah, I'll take the job.
(15:44):
So then he was like,he's still in September.
And I was like, okay, lovely.
And that was like end of April time.
So I thought, you know, I just needlike a job to get me through September.
So I started working like a zero
hour contract at a pub and I was like,brilliant, this is everything I need. So.
And it literally or like it was a very bigcoincidence that just all happened.
Wow, Hannah.
(16:05):
Because when I came back,my mum was giving me.
The are you gonna do?You never should have gone.
You should build your CV.
And I was like, yeah, I know.
Do you think you should have gone?
Do you agree with her or are you like,I would not be who I am today.
John. The what? It's a really fun story.
Like a lot of stuff happened.
There was a lot of, like, little stories.
And then my friends had, like,
the best face times of their liveswhen I was like, time.
(16:27):
And I'm like, can you hearwhat's going on in the background?
I always great,
like I've made, like when I work here,like people are like, oh, what did you do?
And it's still like, it's just likea good opportunity to be like, yeah.
Isn't this crazy if you tell them?
And also, it came up a lot in my interviewwhen I applied for Jisc.
I brought up in a lot of a moreprofessional way during my interview.
(16:49):
But the the my boss now,she was so lovely.
She was like,oh my God, this is brilliant.
Like,you know, you're so you're so adventurous.
You're so I was like,yeah, I'm, I'm all those things.
But it came up so much in my headand I thought if I hadn't done it,
what would I be talking about?
Like, because what else would I have done?
I feel like it's it's thattype of experience that sets you apart.
(17:12):
Right?
So even thoughit was a bit of a wild ride,
like if I had, I feel likeif I had gone down the typical route,
I kind of probably would have beenjust another face across.
But I think it's those like,really weird things that like,
sometimesthat's what people are looking for.
It's just those ridiculous.
Something that makes you send out.
And then recently,I want a job brought up to me
(17:32):
and he's like, do you rememberhe said this in your interview?
And I was like, yeah, I do for that.
And he was like, yeah, it was so weird.
But even now I remember,I was like, yeah, exactly.
It's just a memorable story.
So I don't I don't regret going.
I really enjoyed it for the most part.
I think it was a great time. Yeah.
Amazing.
And and did youdid you improve upon your language skills?
(17:53):
Did you experience another culture
or were you just too busywrapped up in this family drama?
I did I did a language course out there,which was it was really good.
And the family also paid for that,which was very nice of them.
I did that with the first family actually,so I would go,
I think my class was likeeight till 11 every morning.
(18:13):
So when the kids were at school, so theythe agreement was they did the morning
routine and I would do language classand then I would come back.
And then one of the kids was four.
So he was a nursery until 1:00.
And I would go pick him up from nursery,bring them back and then spend the evening
with the kids until about 6 or 7and then you get the weekends off.
So I was going to this language classto improve my skill.
(18:33):
And then I think that when you realizehow little
you actually know, because I was like,oh hell.
And it was no one,no one else spoke English.
So it was literallyyou could only speak in German.
And I was like, wow, okay, intense.
And then I made a few friends.
The first time they went out, they hadthey had friends.
I had a purse as well.
Some we would all go out togetherand they were like Italian
(18:55):
or Russian and stuff like that.
So I'm used to gather you think, oh,this is nice.
And we went iceskating and stuff like that.
So it was a lovely experienceand the family wasn't like the whole focus
at the time.
That which was also very good.
Yeah. Fantastic.
Oh my God, this is amazing.
So I guess for somebody. Listening.
Who is freaking out, eitherthey haven't got their expected A-levels
(19:18):
or they truly just don't know what to do,or they're also thinking
they don't want to go down the formaleducational route of university. Do.
What advice do you have for them.
So someone who doesn't knowwhat they're doing?
I think a big part of life is learningto adapt and handle what life does in.
It's a big part of life,not even in the early career.
Like even now.
(19:38):
Sometimes stuff comes in to workand you're like, what the hell is this?
What am I doing?
But it's a bigpart of life is learning to die.
So I think it's all about your mindsetand how your viewing things.
I think it's so easyto get wrapped up in the negative like,
oh my God, everything's ruined.
I can't do anything.
I have no options.
But there actually areso many opportunities, especially now.
Apprenticeships are such a big thing thateverywhere there's so many big companies
(20:02):
now that are putting out,apprenticeship schemes.
So I think if you need a sort oftake a step back and have a look
at your bigger picture and think,if you don't know what you want to do,
is there anything you like?
Is there anything that you like?
And you think, okay,
maybe I could do this as a careeror it's a skill
you think you're really good atand you think,
okay, let me go look at opportunitieswhere I have those skills.
(20:25):
You know, there's so many opportunitiesthat you can just look at.
But if you.
So if you're so focused on one thing,it's really easy
to miss everything elsethat could actually really benefit you.
And so, yes, I think when I was doingand when I was like looking,
my whole approach was just kind ofhave to see what comes at you.
Like, you can't you can't just go there.
I'm like, I want to do this and only this,because then you really get stuck
(20:47):
in this like downward spiral of are,My God, I'm so lost.
You just have to look at everything aroundyou and think, okay, what's for me?
And Isuppose a gap here isn't a death sentence.
It doesn't delay you skills.
It doesn't delay your abilityto join the working world.
Like, if anything, it helps you.
I think it is a very big help.
(21:08):
I think there's so many thingsthat you can do in a gap year
and eventually, like so you do a gap year,you want to go to uni, you do that
even when you come out other side of uni,you can always look back and go,
I have these skills for my gap yearor I did this in my gap year.
That's what sesame apart.
So I feel like.
And it's no disrespectto anyone going down the university route.
I feel like sometimes you can'tjust become a face in the crowd of people
(21:30):
going down the universityand just going through the process.
I think a lot of times what employers wantis someone who is standing out
and being proactive and doing thingsthat other people aren't doing.
So you you want the experience of,actually, I'm going to go away,
I'm going to do something that I like,and it still don't look good,
and I'm going to be able to reflecton that time and improve.
(21:50):
And that's what employers, what appearswant people who are able to to do that.
Nothing. You can't do that at university.
But I think it is easierto take the gap year.
And so we focus on doing stuffthat makes you happy and.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
Just in case there's like a fear of like,
oh God, ifI take a gap here, it's going to me.
I grab you're really kind of fit andas I've said, really benefited my career.
(22:13):
I don't think I would have got this jobif I hadn't taken a gap year.
So I just don't think I think when I wasfresh, 18, I don't think I had the skills
or the communication ability,like in my interview when I was talking.
I don't think I could have talked
like that fresh out of A-levels, becauseyou're not taught how to talk like that.
You're not taught reallyhow to think in a career minded way.
You're taught how to studyand how to revise.
(22:33):
But taking a gap year,
you kind of can look back and see,oh, actually, this is how much I've grown.
Let me apply this, thatwhen I'm looking at my jobs.
I suppose my last question would be,was there ever a moment during your gap
year where you would compareyour journey to your friends and have any
sort of regrets or panic that they werein a different place to you?
(22:57):
No, I don't reckon, Harrison.
I don't think because I don't eventhen I had some level of understanding
that what we were doingwas two very different things.
And I think the fact that I didn'twant to go to university and,
and then did a gap year kind of help,I think if I wanted to go to university
and then saw my friends go into universitywhile I was on a gap year,
I kind of had a bit of a bit like,oh, that's what I wanted to do.
(23:17):
But because I didn't want to do thatand it kind of had no appeal to me,
I always kind of thought,it's suiting you.
It's not sitting thereand even looking at their lifestyles.
I was it was like fresh out of Covidwhen my friends went to university
and there were so many issueswith universities at the time of,
you know, face to face learning and,
and all these other restrictionswere being put in place.
(23:38):
And I kind of thought it probably suits mebetter to be from home.
So I think not in my gap year.
I think the only comparisonI really would make or have made since
my friends of community is actuallywhen they graduated university,
which was when I was inour apprenticeship, and I kind of thought,
I'm not falling behindbecause my partnership of seven years.
So it's a five year degree tier training.
(23:59):
And I thought, oh my God,everyone's now got their degrees.
I don't have a degree yet.
And then someone would have takentheir like, you didn't even have a degree.
And I was like, I know, I know.
And everyone I knowwas like publishing on Instagram.
Look at me, I got a first or whatever.
And I was like, oh shoot, I should,I should have just gone to invest
and just have the degree.
And then I thought,but I think it was a very like,
(24:21):
oh my god like, panicking moment.
And then when I looked at it
rationally a few days later, I thought,no, I shouldn't have done a university.
I mean, I thinkand then I suppose the benefit of then
doing the legal apprenticeshipis to qualify and become a solicitor
probably takes about the same time anywayas the apprenticeships.
You do a three year degreeand then a qualifying
Sam that takes two years, and then you doa training contract that takes years.
(24:44):
So really until that both the same land.
So when I looked back, I thought, actuallyI'm probably doing it the better way
because at least I'm getting paid,you know, to, to be here to do this.
And then I've got the moneyand the experience and I've got,
I've got the job security of like,I'm here, I'm in a position.
Whereas I think a lot of people,
especially I talk to my friends now,which is what, a year and a bit after
(25:06):
they've graduated and they're like,
I can't find anything becausethe job market isn't isn't brilliant.
Really? Yeah.
So when they were doing that, I was like,
actually, in retrospect,I have made a very good decision
to do the apprenticeship, Ruth,because it suited my lifestyle better.
But also now I kind of have some stability
about at leastuntil the end of my apprenticeship.
And so I thought, yeah,but in emotional moments
(25:29):
I think it is very easyto make the comparisons,
especially when you're like you're feelinglow, maybe something's not gone right.
And you're like looking at everyone'sInstagram.
You're like, everyone's doneso much better than I have.
And then in reality,that's just social media.
That's just peopleposting the best bits of their life.
But like how many bamboos they also hadwhere they're looking at your social media
going, wow, I should have been.
So then I thought, it's probably easierjust to not not compare them.
(25:52):
But it is hard.
I think it's really easy to fall the trap.
There's loads of timeswhen I've looked people, I'm like,
oh yeah, okay, I gotI understand now, but then I
then I come back and work and I'm like,I love my job, I love being here.
I love doing everything.So I think. That's great.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Yes. No problem. It's lovely to be here.
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