It's all well and good deciding that you're going to do an apprenticeship (in fact, it's great!) but do you know what sector you want to work in yet? 'Sector' is simply the name for the industry a job may belong to, which gives you some clue to what kind of what work you would be carrying out. Let's have a look at the major sectors that tend to be most popular with candidates…

Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care

What do you know about this sector? Muddy boots, shaving sheep and cleaning up ridiculous amounts of poo? Well, yes, there's that side to it, but did you know that over 850,000 people in the UK work in this industry? Depending on the job, you could be doing anything from taking care of a local park, looking after your home team's sports pitch, becoming an active part of environmental conservation, helping to nurse animals back to health, or repairing land-based machinery such as tractors and diggers. There are bags of opportunities within this sector and it's only getting bigger!

Arts, Media and Publishing

Reckon you're the new Reni or fancy yourself as the next Feilberg? This sector could be the one for you! With all of the 'old' media (newspapers, radio, magazines) quickly becoming more acquainted with the style of 'new' media (Internet, smartphones), the media and publishing industry is becoming bigger and bigger every year. Plus, art is everywhere! Films, fashion, video games and music all require the talents of assistants, technicians, artists and designers, though they may not get the same attention as the lead actor. Though the sector may be competitive, with the right amount of passion and true belief, along with originality and inventiveness, you could develop a true flair for the creative career path.

Business, Administration and Law

Have you ever watched The Apprentice and found yourself thinking 'What a bunch of idiots?' Think you could do better on some of the tasks? A career in business could be what you're after! Literally millions of people work in this sector and there are countless numbers of roles that you could find yourself in, all with an important part to play in how companies work. You could keep track of cash in accounting, keep customers content in customer service or extract information in marketing, and that's just the start of it! Most roles are office-based, where you're likely to work from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. If you've got great organisation, communication, punctuality, personal presentation and people skills, you're likely to wow a potential employer and be on your way to a successful career in the world of business!

Construction, Planning and the Built Environment

TV programmes like Grand Designs, Ground Force and 60 Minute Makeover show just how much effort, planning and skill is needed to be in the construction industry. Numerous tasks must be carried out, all without error, in perfect fit with numerous other tasks, which certainly takes a seemingly inhuman amount of preparation beforehand. Now apply those measures to the creation of every building in the UK, including skyscrapers, historic castles, famous landmarks and the very home you live in. This gives an idea of just how huge this sector is and the amount of jobs and roles that populate it. If you consider yourself a bit of a handy Andy, applying for an apprenticeship in construction, plumbing, electrical or heating could suit you well as you'll get hands-on experience and build up practical skills that'll put you in high demand. With the 2012 Olympics in London swiftly approaching and thousands of homes across Britain needing to be built, the construction sector is after new workers all the time! Plus, if you don't fancy working for a company, you could always choose to be self-employed. About a third of the people who populate this sector do!

Education and Training

You may have spent the majority of your life in the classroom so far, but just because you've left school, it doesn't mean that your education stops here. We never stop learning, even as we grow up, as there are always new skills and tricks to pick up to help us better ourselves or get better at our job. Thousands of people ever year attend ICT courses, foreign language classes and seminars on being more environmentally friendly… and somebody's got to design and deliver them! There's a huge demand for on-the-job trainers dealing with all sorts of areas such as computer software support, health and safety demonstrations, first aid training and food safety courses. Of course, if you're not sick of the sight of classrooms by now, you could get into school teaching! Apprenticeships as teaching assistants are extremely popular as they allow you experience planning and conducting lessons, handling students of all ages and skill levels.

Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies

This sector is all about designing things, building things and making things work so if you're good with a screwdriver, give this industry a look! Of course, with such a general description, there are absolutely loads of areas you could get into, depending on what exactly you want to do. From processing glass to creating exquisite confectionary, working in a lab or working on a railway track, engineering is a perfect apprenticeship for someone who doesn't mind getting stuck in and getting their hands dirty! What other job sector could have furniture, fishing, food and fixing cars all under the same heading?

Health, Public Services and Care

If you fancy going home with more than just a payslip at the end of the month, then look no further. People who worth in Health, Public Services and Care continually help other people on a daily basis and make our society into the success it is today. Doctors, nurses, dentists, librarians, childcare, pharmacists, social workers and emergency services all play a huge part in our world, and that's not even the half of it! The health service is built up of more than just doctors. Opticians, pharmacists and dental nurses are all part of this sector, all offering self-satisfaction as well as a nice wage. If you want to help your community, you could get into social care, where you'll help to look after the elderly or disabled people, either at their homes or in community centres. Public service is a fantastic area to get into as it leads to a huge range of jobs, from security work to fire-fighting. Depending on which specific department you end up apply for, you will either need technical skills or people skills. For example, an optician would need some scientific knowhow, whereas a social worker would need to rely on charisma, personality and ability to understand a person's needs.

Information and Communication Technology

We'd be willing to bet good money that you've used a computer today (other than the one you're using to readthis, of course.) Withdrawn money from the cash machine? Sent a text or an email or two? Listened to your MP3 player or had a quick game on FIFA? Information and Communication Technology (shortened to ICT, or sometimes simply IT) is absolutely everywhere. You probably don't even realise just how large a part it plays in our daily lives and routines and the sector's getting larger every day. ICT is usually divided into two separate categories - those who understand how it works and those who work with it. Having a deeper understanding of how the magic inside your laptop works opens the doors to important technical roles such as writing new software, creating applications for mobile phones and tablet computers, helping to setup and install an office network or email system… or simply being qualified enough to explain to your mum where the 'button for the Internet' is. However, being able to tap out millions of lines of programming code like Hugh Jackman in Swordfish isn't an essential skill to get into the sector. Anybody who enjoys problem-solving, thinking logically or can easily adapt to new practices is on the right path to a successful career in ICT. By picking up technical skills on an apprenticeship course, you'll be in demand wherever there are computer systems… which are pretty much everywhere!

Leisure, Travel and Tourism

Think about the last time you went on holiday. Now think about how big the airport was and how many people must work there to keep it going. The check-in staff, the people who work the x-ray machines, the baggage handlers, the cabin crew, the ramp side operators, the customer service agents… and that's just scraping the surface! That's a lot of job opportunities for one place, but they all prove to be extremely important to keep operations flying as smoothly as the planes themselves. But, what about before you got to the airport? You had to book your holiday somewhere! Travel agents and tour operators all fall under the Leisure, Travel and Tourism umbrella too! Now, think about the run-up to your holiday. Everyone goes into panic mode and tries to look fit for lounging around the pool, and that means going to the gym or local leisure centre. Trainers, coaches, instructors are also a huge part of this sector. So, there's just a small sample of the different roles within Leisure, Travel and Tourism, from the running machine to the return flight home. Which will you choose?

Retail and Commercial Enterprise

When was the last time you walked down your high street? You know… the one that's packed with shops, chain stores, mini supermarkets, cafés, restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, beauticians, independent shops and hairdressers? You could earn a job in every one of these establishments simply by doing a Retail and Commercial Enterprise based apprenticeship. There are tons of different areas in chain stores alone, depending on whether you want to flog fashion or sell CDs, or take on some more advanced business skills in sales and marketing. If that's not your bag, you could go down the hospitality and catering route that deals with restaurants and cafés or pubs and clubs. With enough experience through an apprenticeship program, you could learn the technical skills and business knowhow to end up running your own little snack bar or tea shop. This sector is so large you could end up literally anywhere, depending on what exactly you would be willing to do. If you wanted to, you could end up driving lorries up and down the country, managing warehouse quantities, sorting out tea and coffee on a cruise ship, organising a B&B or making sure a pub has enough beer for the punters. People skills, communication, organisation and time-management are all key skills for working in Retail, so work on these and you never you know where you're heading!