How I Landed 3 Top Degree Apprenticeships (Including Jaguar Land Rover) After My School Told Me to Stop Applying

You Need to Stop Going to Interviews.

That’s what my school told me.

I ended up landing three top degree apprenticeship offers, including Jaguar Land Rover and Goldman Sachs.

At a grammar school where Russell Group universities were the only story being told, I chose a different path.

---

1. The Unconventional Choice

At my grammar school, the script was already written: apply to five universities, aim for a top academic offer, and follow the crowd. Apprenticeships? They were barely mentioned, and when they were, it was with hesitation.

Last year, when the head boy chose a degree apprenticeship over a Russell Group offer, it didn’t spark curiosity, it sparked discomfort. Eyebrows were raised and some teachers refused to even speak to him. I come from a family that didn’t know much about higher education. I didn’t have a cousin at Deloitte or a family friend in the City. I didn’t even know what a spring week was, let alone how it led to internships and graduate jobs. The more I looked into it, the more I realised: paying £40,000+ for a degree to compete in a rigged game didn’t sit right with me.

What I wanted was simple: real-world experience, a fast-paced learning environment, and the chance to earn while I learned. So I kept applying. Even when the school told me to stop.

---

2. My System

Balancing four A-Levels, a UCAS application, and 20+ apprenticeship applications was not light work. It was about building systems.

Organise

The Apprentease dashboard was a game-changer letting me tag each stage of the application. Whilst the Apprentease Discord server gave live role updates meaning I was often the first to apply to roles as they came out.

Routine

I blocked out weekends for interviews. I’d sit down for 4 hours in a quarter zip and knock out 5 or 6 HireVues in a row. Instead of Netflix, watching YouTubers such as The Apprenticeship Insider became my entertainment.

Tailor

Tools like LaTeX and resume.lol helped me build ATS-friendly CVs. Looking back, ApprenticeWatch’s AI CV Optimiser would’ve saved hours.

Reflect

I didn’t apply to all 20+ roles at once. I set targets, took breaks, and reviewed what worked. Quite honestly, I neglected this after bottling my University of Cambridge Computer Science interview, which threw me off my game for my Bloomberg interview. Mindset plays a bigger role than you’d think.

---

3. Rejection, Doubt and Why I Kept Going

At one point, I got called into the pastoral office:

“You’re missing too much school for interviews. Your grades will slip. You need to cut back Zain.”

It was hard not to take that personally. But instead of arguing, I let my results speak.

My Year 13 mocks exceeded my predicted grades. My offers kept coming. Eventually, the tone shifted. The same teachers who doubted me began to take notice.

There is this song called “Les” by Childish Gambino, and there is a line that gives me chills, a line which I live by:

“Did everything I could, then I kept going.”

That’s exactly what I did.

As long as you give your all, no one can ask for more. If it’s not enough for them, that’s okay. You tried and we keep moving.

---

4. You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

Behind every offer, there was a network.

My mentor from APSTEM helped refine my CV, rehearse interviews, and kept me grounded. knowing that someone is constantly rooting for you does far more than you think.

• Find a mentor – someone a step ahead who can offer real feedback.
• Join a real community – LinkedIn, Discord, ApprenticeWatch. Find a real community, not the ones where they give you a certificate for just joining and doing nothing.
• Ask early, ask often – people are more willing to help than you think.

---

5. Key Takeaways for You

If you're about to start your application cycle, remember this:

• Build a system: Use trackers, templates, and routines. Don’t wing it.
• Rejection is data: It’s not failure. It’s feedback. Learn and adapt.
• Find your people: Community and mentorship will keep you motivated.
• Protect your mindset: Doubt will come from others and from yourself. Just keep going.

Take the Leap

If you're standing at a crossroads, unsure whether to follow the crowd or carve your own path then this is your sign.

You don’t have to choose between ambition and authenticity. You can do both. You can defy expectations. You can succeed on your own terms.