University: Only path to success? | by Prash Raval

Growing up, going to university was a given for me. I saw it as the only route to the jobs that mattered, respect from my family members and ultimately a successful life.

Why? Perhaps I’d soaked up the immigrant mentality of my parents, whose degrees had unlocked new financial security. Perhaps it was the high-flying grammar school I went to, one that spoke proudly about the numbers of boys it sent to Oxbridge year-on-year. Perhaps it was just living in London, a city, where life revolves around maximising economic opportunity. 

I also assumed that anyone that didn’t go to university must have in some way failed. They weren’t bad people, they just hadn’t made the grade and were settling for a lesser life.

So, at the age of 18, I was thrilled to start a degree in Economics at University College London - safe in the knowledge that I was on a well-worn track to a prestigious job with a handsome paycheck.

My narrow-mindedness started to erode over the years that followed. I realised that there were many people for whom university was simply not a viable option - they were no less able, impactful, or motivated than I was, just less privileged. Once I started my career, and particularly as I left behind finance for tech, I also came to appreciate the value of diversity of academic background in the workplace. Still, I held firm in my belief that university was the only right path for me.

My eyes were opened on my first date with my now wife, Sophie. It transpired that Sophie had chosen not to go to university; she’d done an apprenticeship at the Royal Opera House en route to setting up her own wedding veil business. And yet - sat before me was an ambitious, driven, dare-I-say wise woman. A person certainly intelligent enough to have gone to uni if she’d wanted to, but one also forward-thinking enough to know she’d be better served picking up practical skills - skills that eventually set her up for a job she loved.

And it’s that final point that provided the bigger wake-up call: she was truly happy at work. Happier than most of my peers that had used their degrees to secure flashy titles at illustrious companies, as I had done myself. It dawned on me - wasn’t that a truer measure of success? Many of my lifelong assumptions about university, work, and life came crashing down. 

I ended up doing my own apprenticeship several years later: a Level 4 Project Management apprenticeship through Multiverse. I loved the idea of developing the fundamental practical skills of something I’d been winging for years, within and without the context of my specific workplace. And in contrast to my degree, I was able to witness on an almost daily basis how my learnings were having a real-life impact on my work - which felt incredibly rewarding.

So if you’re doing an apprenticeship rather than going to university, I have full respect for you. Don’t let anyone make you feel inferior to those with a degree. And even if you now find yourself at a traditionally prestigious company (as is now possible through Multiverse), make use of the fact that you’re already off the traditional beaten track of ‘success’. How? By chasing job fulfillment and happiness, rather than CV points or money in the bank - without the fear that traditionalists still on the beaten track might have. Your apprenticeship (unlike uni) offers a rare real-life trial during which you should continually ask yourself whether the work you’re doing energises and motivates you. And even if it doesn’t, it’s not all bad news. Your employer has already also shown a willingness to do things differently and might be open to a conversation about how to make your work a more fulfilling and enriching part of your life.

Prash Raval is a Multiverse Project Management alum based in Oxfordshire, UK and writes for the Apprentice Lens as part of the Blogging Team. Here’s more about him:

"After an unhappy start to my career as an investment banker in London, I now find myself working a 4-day week as Head of Customer Ops at Jyre, living in the countryside, and continually crafting healthier work-life habits. I love to write - to discover myself and to inspire others to do the same, with the hope we can each tap into our greatest potential to make the world a bit better. I currently host the ‘Work, Life, No Balance’ podcast, where I seek to help people find work-life balance in today’s always-connected world."