An apprenticeship was perfect for me | Apprentice

Meet Adam Norris

Adam has been with the firm since 2016 and is a Private Client Associate within our Financial Planning team.

For Adam, going to university wasn’t the right choice for him and instead after completing a Business BTEC, with which he achieved a trio of distinction grades, he instead joined the firm under our apprenticeship programme.

"I also felt that choosing an apprenticeship with the firm was a fairly low risk decision, as if for whatever it didn’t work then I could always explore university then. However this wasn’t a decision I would come to regret, I really enjoyed my apprenticeship and seven years later I’m still here now and I love my job."

"I’m also a practical learner, so I felt that the apprenticeship was more geared towards my skillset and approach to work and study, so it was a good option for me personally."

The conversation then moves onto what made him choose a career in financial planning and how did he hear about the firm and our apprenticeship scheme, Adam continues: “Through college and my BTEC I’d always had an interest in stocks, shares and the financial markets, so the financial services industry really interested me."

“I was introduced to the firm through a family friend and I secured work experience via college and during the half term and summer holidays. Having built up a relationship with some people in the team through this I was then offered a full apprenticeship and it just felt like a great fit for me."

“The decision at the time felt a little difficult as all of my friends were going to university, so it did cross my mind whether I would be missing out especially on the social side of things, but in hindsight this was definitely the right decision for me, I still see all of my friends and the social side of working at the firm is brilliant.”

We next ask Adam what advice he would give to someone considering applying for an apprenticeship at the firm, he continues: “I’d really recommend writing down both the pros and cons of an apprenticeship against going to university."

"There is a lot of pressure on young people to go to university, but it isn’t for everyone and an apprenticeship is a great alternative. It’s also really important to research your career paths, so that you know what you need to do to get the role that you want."

"To get into financial planning you don’t need a degree, so an apprenticeship was more suited to me, and will no doubt be for many other people as well.”