SEO apprenticeship?

[luvhammers]

Hello everyone. I have been unemployed for a while now and after getting frustrated with rejection after rejection I have set about learning new skills.

One industry that has caught my eye is SEO. I have been teaching myself bits and pieces about SEO and link building and would like to find an apprenticeship or trainee role in the industry.

I am based in Essex so if any of you have any tips on how to get my foot in the door I would really appreciate it.

Thank you.

 

[B&H Digital]

Try to email round, have a look on the apprenticeship website and you even might want to research some local SEO companies.

Once you've found the company, remember to take in work that you've already done. Although it's an apprenticeship and effectively you'd be learning a new role, companies like to see some sort of experience or interest in the role before - so if you can show them something you've done before or something you're working on, it may interest them in you.

Sound enthusiastic as well, there's hardly anything out here for young people these days besides apprenticeships, so you've got to make sure you show them you 100% want this role and want to head down this career path.

One of our apprentice's runs the apprenticeship forum in our signature, it's still new in terms of members/posts etc but it may interest you

Good luck!

 

[thelegalstop]

Have you ever thought to try some freelance websites such as people per hour? You can start with some small tasks and gain some more experience. Also fiverr might work for you.


Good luck!

 

[UKSBD]

I was recently asked by an SEO about what was the best way to advance in an SEO agency and gave him some advice on Google+

After reading though them I decided to do a blog post with the tips and add 1 final tip at the end - http://www.sim64.co.uk/uk/what-can-a-young-seo-do-to-advance-in-an-seo-agency/

Read them all but don't skip down and read the last one 1st.

All sad but true unfortunately.

 

[webgeek]

It's a tough industry to get in on without some serious skills to bring to the table. Virtually no one wants to invest the time and effort into grooming a padiwan, as they know that the person will take the skills and experience to either - a) get a good job at an agency and leave them high and dry and/or b) try to take their clients when they leave. I've heard this 100 times from digital agencies....

With the algorithm shakeups and Google using Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) to scramble the search rankings, thereby throwing SEO agencies under the bus while Adwords becomes a 'safe play' that everyone thinks is worth going for, SEO is not the profession to be looking at now. In fact, you'd do as well with horseshoes or wagonwheels...

If you're wanting to get into online marketing, then brush up on your pay per click, get Google Adwords certified, get some free vouchers and practice. Then head over to Facebook, get some vouchers, and practice.

Paid advertising will be the booming industry of the next several years - go that route and save yourself a lot of grief.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

I would recommend learning SEO in addition to becoming educating in marketing, psychology and IT before you take this step. Build a good portfolio and try to build a name for yourself. There may be apprenticeships out there I don't know but I would assume that these positions are only offered to graduates by the larger companies and corporations because a real SEO career as about following a strategy, tracking and analysing metrics and marketing in general. A full range of skilled that you'd be hard pushed to learn online.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

I would recommend learning SEO in addition to becoming educating in marketing, psychology and IT before you take this step. Build a good portfolio and try to build a name for yourself. There may be apprenticeships out there I don't know but I would assume that these positions are only offered to graduates by the larger companies and corporations because a real SEO career as about following a strategy, tracking and analysing metrics and marketing in general. A full range of skills that you'd be hard pushed to learn online.

 

[trustico]

Hi luvhammers,

how long have you been learning SEO? Do you have your own website/blog or any work you have been working on so far?

 

[ludachris]

It's a tough industry to get in on without some serious skills to bring to the table. Virtually no one wants to invest the time and effort into grooming a padiwan, as they know that the person will take the skills and experience to either - a) get a good job at an agency and leave them high and dry and/or b) try to take their clients when they leave. I've heard this 100 times from digital agencies....

Exactly this. It's the current trend, Trainee and Junior roles advertised all say "must have previous experience" which is a horrible catch 22.

As an SEO professional working in a Surrey agency i'll give you a quick break down of what i'd suggest you do based on my own experience. I started out creating websites, really bad hobby sites so i could basically spew words all over the internet. From their i learn't affiliate marketing and made a tiny bit of money from said websites. And then I self taught SEO and armed with HTML/CSS knowledge and basic marketing and SEO skills i managed to get myself into a small ecommerce company and went from their basically....

I'd suggest you teach yourself HTML/CSS and get to grips with a CMS like wordpress and start your own website. Then you'll actually probably really enjoy learning SEO in order to see gains in your own website. You are A LOT more likely to land an SEO job with results you can show in an interview and a personal website will do just that.

 

[Barry_M]

I cant see you finding apprenticeships for SEO but I would think going to some SEO conferences will be a good start for you. Also join SEO groups and get involved more in SEO forums etc and you will soon pick up some excellent tips from people like me who provide SEO services. One of my main services is SEO Dundee and I have achieved excellent results for hundreds of clients. I dont really go near larger companies and stick mostly to localised SEO related projects in Dundee as I like to give face to face consultations to clients and they appreciate that I can come round to see them if they have any problems with their website or their SEO. You can have a look at my website for more info. Good luck with the SEO though - its worth the effort.