Want to apply for an apprenticeship but am I too old to be considered?

[Mamma135]

I have had a busy and stressful career and I'm desperate to have a completely new start. I have the support of my family to do it.

I saw an apprenticeship that looks amazing - I would dream of going down this career path but I never thought it would realistically be open to me. It only asks for hard workers, team players, willingness to learn, ability to do manual labour etc - experience is desirable but not a necessity. The work can be done as a hobby though so lots of people will have experience already. The pay will be rubbish and will probably stay low after the apprenticeship but I know I would be much happier than what I'm doing now.

I'm a youthful looking 40+. I have some slightly related experience, and I even did my dissertation in a narrow part of this field.

It's obviously meant for school leavers and 18yos and not intended for me. I'm looking at my CV which has lots of impressive achievements but I'm really struggling to make it relevant so it will need an exceptional cover letter. Is it worth trying for?

If you browse the Mature Study and Retraining board you may find some threads relating experiences of apprenticeship as a mature trainee.

Assuming there are no specific age restrictions I think you should assume the institution welcomes all applications.

Actually googling this question, the answer is you're never too old 😅

I took on an apprenticeship in my late 40s. There should be no age restrictions under a change to the spec several years back. The only disadvantage you might feel is if you study with a cohort of younger apprentices - although this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. As it happened my study group were a wide range of ages.

It would be age discrimination to not allow you to apply. Go for it.

You have a good 20-28 years of working life to go. Do you think you can master a new career in that time and feel like a good investment? I would think you can! People start apprenticeships and training at all ages.

Thank you! How far did you go back in your CV? I think some of the jobs I did in my 20s (like cleaning) are probably as relevant as my current soft skills. But I've always maintained a CV for the last 10 years of experience.

It was with a local authority so I had to include absolutely everything since year dot LOL

Apply! There’s no upper age limit on apprenticeships…. But put a cover letter in with your application saying why you are interested in the role and why you are applying… as sometimes recruiters think ‘older’ applicants have misapplied for the job

A friend of mine is doing one and he’s in his late thirties. Apply!

I've been looking into changing my career completely. Im 38yrs old and after much consideration I've set my mind on retaining as an electrician. I have no experience but I've always said I should have learned a trade when I left school. Instead I listened to my family who pushed me towards working in an office...worse mistake of my life! I've researched how to become an electrician in Scotland so I'm currently reaching out to electrical companies throughout Glasgow in the hope that one of them will take me on as a labourer/mate. That will allow me to go down the adult training route but if that fails, i can always go down the apprenticeship route. I honestly wish I'd had the confidence to do this 5yrs ago but hey ho...no time like the present