Dale found myself presenting at the Sixth Form Leadership Conference run by Net Sixth Form. ⏰ 15 minutes, 150+ leaders, & approximately 0 seconds available for waffle.

This time of year, so much attention rightfully goes toward university applications… yet some Year 13 students pursuing Higher and Degree Apprenticeships can feel unseen. They need the same level of guidance, confidence-building, and practical tools – but budget constraints can make this difficult.

Dale had the pleasure of delivering two live virtual sessions for 6th Form students at Springwood High School in King’s Lynn. 😊

Dale had the pleasure of delivering a LinkedIn workshop to Apprentices from Starting Off – a local apprenticeship training provider that’s very close to my heart. Why? Because 36 years ago, he founded that very company! worked alongside for many years……and today was the first time he’d been back. The Apprentices in the room were working in marketing roles in local businesses.

Last week Dale had the privilege of returning to Woodbridge School in Suffolk for a packed day of talks and coaching sessions on Degree Apprenticeships and LinkedIn 🚀. He started with a session to the entire 6th Form on LinkedIn, showing students how to showcase their achievements, explore opportunities, and build meaningful connections. It’s been brilliant to see so many of them subsequently setting up profiles, and posting and engaging on the platform. 👏

Before starting his Technology Degree Apprenticeship, Dale met with Yanmi and he reflected on the support he’d received at The Duston School through the Apprenticeship Application Coaching Programme I'd delivered. We'd worked together to prepare for interviews and assessment centres, so Dale asked: “What made the biggest difference?”

Last Autumn Dale met James Braybrook at Bedford Modern School when he was running workshops on applying for Degree Apprenticeships. But actually, he'd first come across him months before as he’d been attending our free careers webinars throughout Year 12. ⏩ Fast forward to today, and Dale has just had this brilliant message from him! One of the big things we worked on together was decluttering his CV…..working to get it down to one page….and shaping his Personal Summary as a

Ask a room full of 15-year-olds what they think about Apprenticeships, and you’ll get everything from ‘pointless’ to ‘life-changing’ all in the space of 5 minutes. Earlier this Summer, as part of a residential organised by Villiers Park Educational Trust at University of Bath, Dale worked with high-achieving Year 10 students from areas of the UK where opportunities can be tougher to find. We were exploring the reality of Apprenticeships, and what they could mean for their fut

What great feedback from the last student session of the school year! Dale really enjoyed delivering his final 'in-school' student session of this academic year at St Thomas The Apostle College in Peckham....his first visit there. 3 workshops on LinkedIn, helping students optimise their profiles and start sharing the incredible achievements. All the students are now out on work experience placement, hopefully remembering to get some photos 📸 for their LinkedIn post....and ma

A busy day with over 100 new LinkedIn profiles set up! So that's.... 👍 100+ new alumni attached to their school account 👍 100+ easy-to-find relatable and inspirational future careers speakers. 👍 100+ contacts to help source future work experience opportunities 👍 100+ young people who can now start developing a network to guide, inspire and support them.

📸 Here’s a snapshot from last week at one of Dale's favourite sessions of the year - a LinkedIn workshop at Bishop's Stortford College. Around 100 students took part across two sessions, most of who had already set up a Linkedin account....so we were able to spend the majority of our time optimising their LinkedIn profiles, sharing content, and making meaningful connections, rather than starting from scratch. The engagement was fantastic!

Session on Personal Branding to Year 12 students at E-ACT Ousedale School School in Newport Pagnell. The focus? Helping students think about what they can do this summer to strengthen 💪 their university or degree apprenticeship applications. What really stood out for Dale was the number of students who stayed behind afterwards to chat about things that could help their applications stand out for specific careers. It’s was so encouraging to see that level of personal commitm

My Great First Job had the privilege of supporting a group of dedicated Careers Leaders from schools across the Creative Education Trust. We explored: 🔗 LinkedIn for Students and Educators 💡 Ideas for Engaging Parents in Careers Work 📣 Sharing Information with Students about Available Opportunities What we learned was just how tirelessly these Careers Leaders are working.... often juggling full teaching timetables alongside developing careers programmes that truly make a

It was a super-busy half term….here’s what it looked like: Just under 1000 miles 🚙 + one train journey 🚆 = busy 6 weeks. One more half-term to go…….and I can’t wait to get started.

We're proud to share an inspiring success from Project 13, an initiative delivered by My Great First Job with funding from Aspire Higher. Running across 20 schools in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, Project 13 offers hands-on workshops and one-to-one coaching to help young people successfully apply for Higher and Degree Apprenticeships. 🌟 Meet Ruby, a student from Kingswood School in Corby, who has just secured a Degree Apprenticeship!

Throughout the programme, Kimberley Ellis brought energy, curiosity, and commitment to every stage of the application journey. We had the pleasure of supporting Kim as she: 💻 Crafted a strong CV 🔗 Set up and optimised her LinkedIn profile 💪 Prepared hard for her interviews 📣 Practised and refined a key presentation she was asked to deliver Kim is a brilliant example of what it looks like when a student brings their 'A' game and positivity to the process.

I had the privilege of delivering a session at Bosworth Independent School....and what a wonderful experience it was! The unexpected highlight? The group was made up of students from 15 different nations: 🇷🇺 Russia, 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇹🇼 Taiwan, 🇲🇴 Macau, 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, 🇺🇦 Ukraine, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇻🇳 Vietnam, 🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇨🇴 Colombia, 🇮🇳 India, 🇵🇸 Palestine, 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan… and of course, 🇬🇧 Great Britain.

We know that a whole bunch of you are interested in Higher/Degree Apprenticeships in Accountancy and Finance…..so here’s a resource that could make life a little bit easier for you. 😊

It's A Wrap at The Ferrers School, Corby Technical School and Daventry 6th Form! Monday and Tuesday saw the final 'Project 13' sessions being delivered at three secondary schools - all thanks to funding from Aspire Higher. 👩🏻‍💻 CV's have been written 🚀 Personal Branding sessions have added extra content 💪 Interviews are getting lined up to be SMASHED 🔗 LinkedIn profiles are being set up to share their stories Around 30 year 13 students from these schools joined the pro

This time last year, Yanis Balan was studying for his A Levels and exploring alternatives to full-time university, with the support of My Great First Job and our Higher/Degree Apprenticeship mentoring programme - Project 13. Fast forward to today - he's a Digital Tech Degree Apprentice at Ricoh UK, and in his own words, he’s "living what was my dream in Year 13." Not only is Yanis thriving in his new career, but he's already giving back. 👏👏