Looking at apprenticeships (at 30)

[kieranv]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if I need advice here or not but I feel like i need to run some things past some people.

I've been looking at a change in career for a while, currently I'm working in retail earning a poorly sum for someone of my age (currently on £17,500pa) with no chances to learn or progress, it's become stale.
So I'm contemplating getting out and doing an apprenticeship in something I enjoy learning and can progress in.

I have already been offered a place on one apprenticeship scheme starting in September with a great company doing something which I reckon I can excel at. However, the offer on the table is £13,300 for the first year. It's a 3 year scheme which by the end of I can hopefully be on around £25k or so with some opportunities for quick progression.

I always knew I was going to have to deal with a drop in salary when looking at this type of job but that is quite a drop. I guess the question here is, is it the done thing to negotiate salary with an apprenticeship scheme? Or just accept it for the first year knowing it'll increase to at least nat min wage for second year and beyond/

Looking at income calculators it looks like I'll only be £200 worse off per month so although the drop from £17.5k to £13.3k seems massive, it's not actually the end of the world. I could probably cope for a year on that. The other option is to get an extra Saturday job to make up the extra as the combined hours between apprenticeship and part time job would make up to my current hours so hopefully not feel too much.

Does this sound like a sensible option, or is there something obvious that I'm missing from my thinking?

 

[kieranv]

Whats the apprenticeship?

There seems to be very little consistency with how much they pay, I've seen helpdesk apprenticeships from £8k all the way up to around £18k. If it's a perfect fit, i.e good progression, support, company, networking etc. then take the hit, if not shop around for similar positions that pay better.

Also fyi there is a learning element to an apprenticeship so picking up a second job would mean juggling your 9-5, studying, and your other job.

It's motor mechanics, currently I'm a bicycle mechanic and I've been working on cars for all of my adult life so it's not something I'm completely new to. Hopefully I'll pick most things up pretty quickly but I'll definitely be going into it with an open mind as no doubt I'll have picked up some bad habits through all my years of self taught mechanics!

I've accepted to offer now, start in September, time to start saving!

 

[kieranv]

Cheers for the replies guys, as above, I've accepted the position on the scheme I was offered starting in September.

The company itself is massive with one of the largest fleets in the uk, from cars up to lgv's. I'll have the option to move up to commercial vehicles once I've finished my 3 years on light vehicles, also got the option of a 4th year doing a master tech.

Looking forward to getting started!