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Meet Nadia Maarouf: ManpowerGroup colleague and proof that apprenticeships offer a rewarding career!

Published on: 11 Jul 2018

Nadia Maarouf

Nadia has worked for ManpowerGroup for four years. Starting out as an apprentice, she was soon taking on greater responsibilities, looking after recruitment and social media marketing for our client, Sky. We spoke to Nadia to find out how her journey through an apprenticeship helped shape her career. Here's her story:

When I finished my A-levels and it came to deciding what was next, like many young people, I felt unsure. Unsure about what I wanted to do with my future and unsure about how I would get there, but university seemed like a given.

The careers service at my sixth-form were all about supporting you through university open days, UCAS applications and university interviews, but I was never wholly into the idea. Why? For me, it went back to not knowing what I wanted to do with my future. I kind of knew what I enjoyed but committing to a university course without knowing where I wanted to be didn't feel sensible, especially if it would be costing me thousands of pounds.

There could be…another option

Thankfully I was made aware of another option. Two years prior, my older sister did an Apprenticeship at a global reinsurance company and loved it. I saw Apprenticeships as a way of seeing if a career, in what you think you'd like to do, was really for you; with the plus of gaining experience for your CV, and earning money. So I took the plunge and applied for Apprenticeships which covered some of the things I enjoyed, turns out, most of the ones I was interested in were in Marketing as I liked the creative scope. In the back of my mind, I also knew that university would always be there if I wanted to study something specific one day.

I'm please to say that I found and secured an Apprenticeship which felt ideal, it was at ManpowerGroup in the Marketing team, and I loved every minute. I had a great team around me, learnt tonnes and got involved in some interesting projects; I stayed at ManpowerGroup for four years, in a role that evolved and grew with me.

We're getting better at giving young people options when they leave school, but I wanted to write this blog post because I think it's important for people to hear the experience of those who have chosen an option that isn't university. It's a shame that Apprenticeships weren't as widely promoted when it was decision time for me - maybe that's because Apprenticeship are sometimes viewed as a 'vocational' option for people who aren't 'academic', and definitely not an option for someone getting good grades - but I'm pleased that I can talk about my positive experience and hopefully contribute to changing that perception.

An Apprenticeship is an option, and can be really rewarding. I'm pleased I chose that route.