Growing up in the North Mainland of Shetland Sophie Jamieson opted to complete a Modern Apprenticeship in Social Care after leaving school. She explains why it was a great choice.
Like many young people in Shetland Sophie Jamieson was faced with different options when she was preparing to leave school.
Heading south to unversity was an option, but Sophie knew her long-term future was in Shetland, making a Modern Apprentieship the obvious choice. She opted for studying Social Care, working alongisde learning, and has found it a rewarding and enjoyable career.
Sophie, who grew up in the North Mainland community of Muckle Roe and attended Brae High School from nursery to S6, considered studying for a degree. "At first I applied for university because I thought that was what people do after school, but I realised when people were deciding which uni to go that I didn't really want to go.
"I knew I didn't want to leave Shetland."
Having grown up in a beautiful island, with a vibrant community and lots of opportunities on the doorsteph, that is understandable. Instead, Sophie focused on developing new skills and pusuing a career where she could start earning and continue her education.
"I knew I wanted to do an apprenticeship, learning and working at the same time and I decided Social Care would be a good route to go down. It's a broad role and you take that into lots of different jobs."
You feel like you are really making a difference.
Having left school in May 2021, Sophie began her apprenticeship in the September of that year. Her workplace at the North Haven care home is conveniently close to Muckle Roe.
"I was mainly in the workplace for the first 8 months, purely working and learning the role. After 8 months, I started the college side of things, going into college about six times. The rest [of the study] you do in your own time, working at your own pace."
Having that control over her own future, while progressing to an SVQ2 qualification, reaffirmed that it was the right choice for Sophie.
"Some people were wanting to get it done right away and finish in a couple of months, I didn't want to stress myself so left it a bit longer and completed it in just over a year."
What's more she says the support from colleagues, college trainers and assessors, and the council has been great. And by staying at North Haven throughout the apprenticeship she built familiarity with the role, the setting and the team ethic.
"When I finished the apprenticeship they offered me a job right away." She has discovered there is a lot to like about the job even though there can be "ups and downs".
"It is all good experience and you hear lots of stories from the older people, that's really interesting, and it's good helping them with their day to day tasks."
Forming bonds with the service users, especially those who do not get many visitors, is one of the highlights. "You feel like you are really making a difference."
Of course, it's not all about work. Staying in her home community has meant that Sophie has the opportunity to keep in touch with old friends. She also plays hockey as a forward for Zetland, regulalrly competing at the all-weather pitch in Brae, for the team she joined as a 14-year-old.
"It is good being able to stay in Shetland, I like playing hockey and being involved in the team. You get to know a lot of people through hockey. I feel very close to our team and it's good to have that and the strong team spirit."
We have a very close team bond, we're all very good friends in and out of work. We're good at communicating and it really shows when we are working together
Just because she is working full-time doesn't mean the learning and development has stopped. Sophie says, "There's always different training opportunities. I am qualified but there's always new training, and there SVQ3 and SVQ 4 [the next levels of vocational qualification].
"I'm happy for now, but in the next couple of years it would good to progress on to SVQ3."
That opportunity, combined with the supportive environment, and the pleasure that comes from helping others means Sophie is happy in her work.
"We have a very close team bond, we're all very good friends in and out of work. We're good at communicating and it really shows when we are working together."
It is that combination which Sophie believes makes social care such an interesting career and she would recomment it to other youngsters.
"Doing a social care apprenticeship is very worthwhile. It can be tough at times but it's very good once you get into it. It's very worthwhile and gives you lots of experience and life lessons."
That's why she knows that staying in Shetland was definitely the right choice.
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