Meet our Apprentice: Maitham Rashid
Maitham Rashid works for Morrisons and studies at Sheffield Hallam University. Since starting his Chartered Manager degree apprenticeship, he has been promoted to Senior Manager and won Retail Apprentice of the Year at the Asian Apprentice Awards.
Maitham studied level 3 BTEC subjects at sixth form in Derby, and achieved Distinction/Distinction* grades in Business; IT; Health & Social Care; and Sport. He originally planned to go to university as a full-time student, but when he learned that a degree apprenticeship could allow him to start his career while he earned a degree, he saw this option as “the best of both worlds”.
Maitham applied for several degree apprenticeship roles during his final year of sixth form and said: “It’s good to start applying early – I was looking from October.” He found the recruitment process highly competitive, particularly as he had never taken part in an assessment centre. Asked for his advice to future applicants, Maitham said: “Practice before interviews, and do your research. Understand what the company’s about, and if their values match your values.”
On his role at Morrisons, Maitham said: “I became a team manager in the first six months. It was a big jump but they gave me the correct tools for the job.” For his degree study, Maitham attends Sheffield Hallam on a block-release model. This means he has several weeks of teaching spaced throughout the year, during which he stays in Sheffield and enjoys “that student experience.”
Maitham said: “I think there is a stigma around apprenticeships as a whole, not just in the BAME community. I think there’s a view about old apprenticeships for manual labour, but that’s not the case anymore – there are loads of options.”
Maitham’s parents didn’t initially back his decision to pursue a degree apprenticeship, but he said: “Once I explained what my apprenticeship was, they saw the benefits. My younger brother is now also doing a degree apprenticeship in law, and they encouraged him to do that.”
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Maitham is working in the retail sector while he studies for a degree in management, but many different industries currently offer degree apprenticeship roles, including: engineering; digital technologies; finance; law; healthcare and science.
You can find the stories of other apprentices at Sheffield Hallam University here and more information about applying here. Details of degree apprenticeships at the University of Sheffield can be found here.
