#ScottishAppWeek2023 | Harry Meighan

For Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2023 we're shining a light on different apprentices and apprenticeship opportunities on the financial services industry. Next up we heard from Harry Meighan, Digital Marketing Apprentice at SFE

What is your apprenticeship and why did you choose it?

I am currently into the last month of my digital marketing apprenticeship here at Scottish Financial Enterprise and if I’m being honest I didn’t really have any prior knowledge into digital marketing before applying for the role. I really enjoyed business studies after I was essentially forced to take it in S6, otherwise it was back to physics again, which I had already dropped the year prior.

 Three months before I was scheduled to leave school, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and before I knew it I had left school without completing my final exams and entered the big bad world of work. I applied for temporary work at just about every shop I could think of, but as expected received nothing back. After months of firing my CV out left, right and centre, I eventually got my first job as a Christmas casual worker for the Royal Mail, and ended up working there for over a year throughout 2021.

As 2022 rolled around, and the world started to recover, I started to see a lot of apprenticeship roles appearing again and considering how much I enjoyed my final year of business in school, I started looking for jobs that related to the subject. That’s when I came across digital marketing and the role just seemed like a natural fit. I applied for one or two roles that seemed interesting and before I knew it, I had my start date for my apprenticeship with SFE.

 What do you enjoy most about your apprenticeship and why?

There’s honestly so many things I’ve enjoyed about my apprenticeship at SFE. I’ve loved attending events, meeting and networking with new people and seeing the relationship my colleagues grow to where I can now call them friends.

Our annual awards dinner back in October was a particular highlight for me, after the months of work that went into it. However, the thing I’m most proud of is being able to look back at how much I’ve progressed in so many different areas over the last year. From my knowledge of digital marketing to my overall confidence when it comes to being a part of the team, I’ve learned so much over the past year and I have loved being able to soak in every bit of knowledge possible. Being able to reflect on where I started and compare it to where I am now is a really good feeling.

 Describe something that surprised you about your apprenticeship?

The thing that has surprised me most about my apprenticeship has been the level of support I have received from the team. I assumed before I started the role that everybody would be far too busy doing their own thing that my questions and inexperience would be viewed as an annoyance, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It turns out that most people actually really enjoy helping others, especially younger people like myself who are just beginning their career journey.

A little bit of advice for any young people reading this is that there is no such thing as a stupid question. This is something I’ve learned over the past year and it has really shocked me at how much this is emphasised. If you have a problem that you are unsure about, just ask for help, nobody is going to judge you (unless the problem is mind-bogglingly simple, in that case you might get judged a little bit).

 Describe something you learned about yourself doing your apprenticeship?

I’ve definitely learned that I need to have more self-confidence and belief in my own ideas and opinions. Things I’ve learned to do more in recent months includes simply speaking up in team meetings more, being more confident to go up and talk to people at events, and expressing any ideas I have to the team. I think the improvement has mostly come from adjusting to working life, but being able to see how others within the office operate certainly helps as well. I’ve been extremely lucky to work closely with a very small team, with people who have much more experience than I do. I guess after a period of watching them, things have sort of just clicked for me and I have found that I am much more confident in the work environment.

 What is your role now and how did your apprenticeship help prepare you for it?

Well, I am still doing my apprenticeship just now, but my role has changed pretty significantly over the last few months. I think this essentially comes from gaining experience on the job, becoming more familiar with how things work and learning from my colleagues. My main roles now are operating our social media channels and maintaining our website, which certainly wouldn’t have been the case at the beginning of my time at SFE. I am delighted that SFE have extended my role for another six months, giving me the opportunity to further develop my capabilities in these areas.

I’ve also been completing an SCQF level 6 diploma in digital marketing throughout the last year as well. I’ve found this course extremely helpful to help kickstart my journey in digital marketing, with it providing lots of helpful information and tips that I have been able to implement into my day-to-day role at SFE.

All in all, I would say that being able to learn on the job, gain an education and earn money makes an apprenticeship an enticing role for anybody looking to enter the world of work and I would recommend an apprenticeship to everybody.