You are within two years of finishing school and at the end of year 11 you will have to decide what to do next. For some people this may be excellent news, but for others it can be a very scary time, so getting armed with the choices now and understanding them could save you a lot of hassle when you finally get there.
One of the most popular choices is to leave school, but this does mean that you then need to start job hunting, with very little in the way of formal qualifications. GCSE’s are recognised by employers, but you are going to be looking at bottom of the rung jobs, from where you can begin to work your way up.
You have two main choices, look for a job and hope that the company progression scheme is good or look for an apprenticeship where you will at least have the protection of an organised scheme to make sure you do make progress.
Bigger companies, supermarkets are a good example, offer excellent career progression and if you are interested in retail management this may be an excellent starting point. You might begin as a till operator, but as long as you are confident and willing to work, you should have no problem progressing. Often there is an internal job bulletin where you will see jobs advertised that are a step above your current position and you will be able to apply for these just like any other staff member.