10 February 2011
You're Hired! The Creative Apprentice
Eighteen year old Creative Apprentice Hannah Partington is one
of thousands of young people nationwide doing apprenticeships in
non traditional sectors.
"I'd definitely recommend doing an apprenticeship," says Hannah
Partington, who is doing her apprenticeship at Greenwich Theatre.
"It's the best thing you can do, particularly at my age. You're
earning money, but still learning; you're moving forwards."
After achieving a qualification in Technical Theatre at Lewisham
College Hannah decided that she wanted to gain a more rounded
understanding of theatre by working front of house. Hannah now does
everything from duty management shifts to working on the box
office, to cleaning.
"I've learned loads already," says Hannah. "If anyone else is
considering doing an apprenticeship I'd say make sure it's
something you really want to do, and just really go for it."
Hannah's boss and mentor is Greenwich Theatre's Customer
Services Manager Murray Cooper. He says Hannah has made a "huge
contribution" to the running of the theatre.
"For me, having Hannah is an amazing help," says Murray. "The
budget cuts have been so big; Greenwich Theatre has really peeled
back its staff, so Hannah has really become a core member of our
team."
Despite being involved in education and outreach projects for
years, Hannah is Greenwich Theatre's first apprentice. "We wanted
to make theatre more accessible to young people, who hadn't
necessarily done a degree course, because that's not the only way
to learn," Murray explains. "We wanted to show that you can get
into this industry in a completely different way, and in some ways,
have a much broader experience by doing it this way.
"It's a learning curve for us as well as we haven't had an
apprentice before, so it's brand new for Hannah and brand new for
us."
Murray plans on taking on more apprentices in the future and has
some advice for other employers thinking of taking on apprentices
for the first time. He says: "A top tip would be you can never do
too much planning. Laying out what needs to be done, and checking
what's required of you as a company.
"It's also good to have some sort of loose plan that you're
going to profit from and the apprentice is going to profit from.
Having an apprentice is such a good thing and can benefit a
business in so many ways, but I imagine that if you don't have the
time to plan it then you'd end up both losing out: the apprentice
wouldn't learn anything and you wouldn't gain anything. It's good
to have a work plan before you set out."
"If I'd had the chance to do a creative apprenticeship I
would've jumped at it, it's a really good opportunity: you can't
beat hands on experience."
Want to find out more about apprenticeships? Call 0800 977
8748 to chat to our apprenticeship specialists.