Special feature: Job swap proves to be eye-opener

"The thing I love about working here is all the different people you meet," says the bubbly 21-year-old.

But it wasn't always the case. When Sanah first started in June last year, every call would fill her with dread.

"She really didn't like the phone when she started," says office administrator Molly Easterbrook.

Sanah is a trainee doing a 12-month modern apprenticeship with Telford College of Arts and Technology. The past few years have marked a shift in government policy towards schemes like the one Sanah is doing. Whereas a few years ago young people like her, with a clutch of A-levels, would be pushed towards university, there is now a drive to get more people on to courses like hers, where they study for vocational qualifications at the same time as getting experience in the workplace.

Since 2010 more than two million new apprenticeship schemes have been created in 170 industries nationally, and the government has an ambition to create a million more.

And to mark National Apprentice Week, Sanah is giving me a flavour of what an apprentice office administrator's day is like. Then in the afternoon, the roles are reversed and Sanah spends time in the editorial department of the Shropshire Star. What could possibly go wrong?

Sanah spends part of the week studying for her NVQ Level Two qualification in business administration and the rest of the her time manning reception at Priory Nursing Home in Wellington, where she greets visitors, answers the phones, and completes the general admin.

My first task of the day is to pick up the dreaded phone and chase up an order which hasn't been delivered. Can't be that difficult, can it?

"Good morning, this is the Priory Care Home, would it be possible for you to see what's happening with our order?"

So far so good.

"Yes, I've got the order number."

See? I've been well briefed.

"That would be for the elephant's foot lift, then?"

"Er . . . yes, I think so."

Now I can see why in the early days Sanah found it so nerve-racking.

"I wasn't very confident when I started: I worried I wouldn't know what to say when the phone rings, but now I know who to put them through to. Usually the calls aren't for me, they are for a manager. It is just about knowing who to put them through to."

Sanah was out of work for nearly a year after finishing her A-levels in 2014 before landing a place on the TCAT scheme in June last year.

"I went for interviews, but I never got the jobs, I found it really hard," she says. "I don't know whether I said something different to the others at the interviews.

"I never really wanted to go to uni – I always wanted to get a job and earn some money – and then somebody from TCAT rang me and said there was a great opportunity here."

TCAT offers apprenticeships in 24 trades. The business admin scheme Sanah is taking is the most popular choice with 16 to 18-year-olds.

Hayley Corbett, apprenticeship recruitment manager at the college, says nearly half its apprentices were employed in the county, and more than 40 per cent are under 23.

"Many of our apprentices gain promotion or permanent positions within their organisations as a result of the combination of on-the-job and TCAT training," she says.

Anyway, back to the missing order and the elephant's foot lift. The supplier insists it has been dispatched, so it is time to call a member of the nursing staff to reception using the PA system. Sanah says it was once another job she hated, but it is now second nature. It's just like using the telephone, but for some reason I can't hear my voice over the speaker. Have I done something wrong?

"No, I definitely heard it," says Sanah. Sure enough, a nurse quickly arrives in reception. Still none the wiser about what's happened to the elephant's foot lift, though.

Sanah also has me printing a poster outlining the activities for the week ahead. And when the opportunity arises to help with the home's Easter decorations, I'm right in there. First, I try my hand at stitching and stuffing an Easter bunny – "It doesn't look much like a rabbit," observes Sanah. My efforts to help with the 'Happy Easter' message on the door don't go down especially well, as I unwittingly pull all the plastic letters off the window. Probably best to get back behind reception.

There is an academic side to Sanah's apprenticeship as well. As part of her studies, Sanah has to complete 14 modules of coursework demonstrating a variety of skills.

Molly, who started her role only a few weeks before Sanah, says the young apprentice has been a huge asset in her nine months at The Priory. "When she finishes her apprenticeship she will have no problem finding work, whether it is here or somewhere else," she says.

Sanah, who attended Blessed Robert Johnson School before doing her A-levels at New College, Wellington, says her day-to-day confidence has grown thanks to the apprenticeship.

Anyway, the staff at The Priory have seen enough to know I won't be offered an apprenticeship any time soon, so we head to the Shropshire Star head office in Ketley to see how Sanah fares in the world of news.

After a brief tour of the building, and an explanation of how the news makes the journey from keyboard to printing presses, we head out to Newport to get people's thoughts on this week's Budget. She's initially reluctant to talk to members of the public, but soon makes friends over at the Pop Up Newport cafe. "You look like you should be in an oil painting," says one of the customers.

Not everybody is pleased to see us, though. Walking along Newport High Street there are several people who do not want to talk, and are not afraid to say so. After just over an hour in Newport, we head back to the office and write up the results. "I found it very interesting," she says. "I knew what it would be like, but it's more intense than I was expecting, and some people's reactions were not quite what you would expect."

After a couple of hours in our office she is off to college. She has got an exam in information and communications technology. Ah, the joys of youth. And I never got to the bottom of the elephant's foot lifter.