National Apprenticeship Week Joe's Apprenticeship Journey
For National Apprenticeship Week 2024 we wanted to share our individual Apprenticeship experiences as an insight in to the different ways Apprenticeships can impact a role. Whether it's doing an apprenticeship ourselves, supporting apprentice's within the business or supporting training providers to find the right people to support their apprentice's, we've covered them all.
Written by myself, Joe. Want to have a chat to learn more?
Joe's Apprenticeship Journey
- Like many of you, I presume, I didn’t really understand the full extent of Apprenticeships until I started working for a training provider back in 2012.
- When I heard the term Apprentice, my initial thoughts went straight to Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricians – any job that required tools and not office-based opportunities. I genuinely believed this was only what was on offer.
- But my horizons were broadened when I realised that you could literally do an Apprenticeship in anything and it’s safe to say I completely fell for the sector. It seemed and felt so right – helping others to secure a positive future and learn skills whilst earning at the same time. I was hooked on this idea and knew I could do well in the FE Sector because I believed in the product.
- Having been a University Graduate, I didn’t realise these opportunities existed, but I suppose that’s down to the career’s guidance (or should I say, lack of) that I received during my high school education. When I started my career in FE, which now spans over 10 years (which seems mad), I started recruiting apprentices into companies across Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex. I loved it – the chance to help people start their careers and offer them an opportunity to grow within some fantastic local companies. I can think of so many success stories from my days recruiting apprentices, many I’ve probably also forgotten but I can wholeheartedly say the satisfaction I got from this role was staggering.
- As my career progressed and I was promoted to a sales manager, opportunities within the company started to emerge and we heavily utilised apprentices with a pinpoint methodology of ‘growing our own’. This was such as amazing thing to be a part of and see so many success stories from apprentices who started with zero knowledge and ended up gaining promotions and achieving such fantastic roles in the future. It was mad to imagine that this was something I knew absolutely nothing about back in 2012.
- Now I have my own company, it was vital for me to bring in somebody I knew and trusted to help me grow the business which is why Kristian Hammond was the perfect addition. Kristian worked as an apprentice for me in a previous role, joining the company as a 16-year-old straight out of year 11. He grew within the organisation, had several promotions and showed the type of work ethic I wish I had at the age of 16. To say he’s been a massive part of our development at Educated Appointments is an understatement. From apprentice to key member of the team – a true apprenticeship story.
- We decided that our first staff member would be an Apprentice and we were so lucky when Ruby Leech applied to join our team. We knew instantly after interviewing Ruby that she would be great for us and our initial thoughts were way below what Ruby has gone on to achieve. In the last 16 months, Ruby has become an integral part of the team and we both couldn’t imagine the company without her, having completed her Recruitment Level 2 Apprenticeship with a distinction grade, Ruby has now enrolled onto Recruitment Level 3.
- There are lots of horror stories about apprentices and I’m not one to lie and say I never had any below par apprentices. I’ve had some shockers. However, the good certainly outweighs the bad and it’s a route I will continue to support here at Educated Appointments.
Sometimes its just easier to talk
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Written by myself, Joe. Want to have a chat to learn more?
