5 Ways To Make Your Degree Apprenticeship Application Stand Out

You’ve done your research and decided a degree apprenticeship is the right fit for your next educational step. But where to start? 

We’ve put together the guide below to help you feel confident about engaging with the wide-range of employers who recruit degree apprentices and their different recruitment processes. 

Here are 5 ways to help you stand-out in a competitive degree apprenticeship landscape: 

1. Create a LinkedIn account and start to share relevant content.

Applying for a digital apprenticeship? You could share some recent articles around the debate about AI. Interested in Clinical Trials? You could share an article about a new treatment. This showcases to prospective employers your passion and relevant knowledge for the role you are applying for.

2. Research the organisation(s) you want to apply to.

Explore their website and any other free available resources to gain an understanding of their company culture and priorities. There may be opportunities to reference specific company initiatives in your application that will show you’ve done your research. Researching this content can also help you to prepare insightful questions for employers in advance of an interview and set you apart from competitors who only have generic questions prepared.

3. Complete online courses or take on a subject-related project.

These are great to include on applications or your CV and reference in interviews as it shows employers you take initiative and are already seeking to grow professionally in your area of interest. There are lots of free online options available including on Open University as well as some LinkedIn Learning courses.

Taking on a project related to your subject area is also a great way to demonstrate to an employer your skills in industry relevant programmes or software, as well as your commitment and ability to work independently. For example, if you are applying for a data science role, why not take on this building a chatbot project? Or if it’s a marketing position, could you create a range of social media templates, or branding guide on Canva or Adobe Creative Suite?  

The options are endless, and if your work experience isn’t extensive, an independent project can practically showcase you have the relevant skills their organisation needs.

4. Have someone review your application for spelling & grammar accuracy.

Make sure you have someone proofread your applications. It’s easy to miss your own errors because you know what you want to say. A pair of fresh eyes can catch typos or spelling errors which can be invaluable. You don’t want an otherwise strong application to be discarded, because of careless errors that communicate a lack of attention to detail. 

It’s also a good idea to write application content in a document and copy & paste into specific application forms. This will allow you to take advantage of spell check functions and give you continued access to content to adapt for other applications.

5. Prep before interviews & debrief after to capture insights & learning for future applications. 

Before an interview, look up commonly asked questions and run through how you could answer, taking into account your own experience, the role advertised and the advanced research you’ve done about the company. 

After an interview, write down the questions you were asked to help prepare for future interviews. Were there some that you think went really well? Write down your response so you can capture those details and have them quick to hand should you be asked that question again. Were there some that you weren’t sure how to answer? Take some time to think through them, making relevant links to your own experience so you can be better prepared should you be asked that question again.

To secure an apprenticeship you may have to go through several rounds of interviews at multiple companies, so taking the time to reflect on what went well and addressing areas that you can improve will help you to communicate more confidently.

We hope these suggestions are helpful to you as you complete your degree apprenticeship applications. For more helpful content, follow our work related learning account on Instagram to hear from current NU London apprentices and other relevant news in the apprenticeship space.