Jess's Apprenticeship Journey – April
This month Jess had the opportunity to take part in a skills event, gained yet another distinction and has been taking on more responsibilities – find out more about what she has achieved, learnt and accomplished below.
Jess is completing a Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship, and you can share her journey and progression with her monthly updates and catch-up on what you might have missed!
“I never imagined I’d be showing people what to do and attending skills events! I’ve made so much progress already.”
How have your skills and knowledge developed this month?
April was very good month for me, I didn’t face too many challenges and I’m feeling confident and happy in my role.
While working on an assignment about the values of the organisation and its ten-year plan I felt I needed a little bit of help. I wanted all the information to be correct, and I also wanted to get a distinction. I’ve had a lot of them so far so I wanted to keep going strong!
I went to a session with my tutor Maria and talked it through. I found this very useful as Maria pointed out things I had not seen myself, such as sentences that didn’t make sense and information I’d missed out. I found it helpful as I’m someone who just types as if I’m saying it out loud and this doesn’t always make sense on the page! I went back and worked on it, and made some changes ready for the next review session. I got another distinction, so I was really happy with that!
I also had a tutor review which went very positively. It showed I was doing lots of training and getting my off-the-job hours in. Sometimes you can forget to do off-the-job hours or do tasks like meeting with new members of staff or attending meetings that you maybe don’t realise count as off-the-job training as it’s away from my usual job role. I got all my hours in for the month which was positive!
In meetings with my tutor and line manager I set a professional target to keep adding to calendar. It’s not always easy working from home as I can think I’m ahead as I’m doing lots of things like checking the website but if I don’t put it on the calendar my colleagues don’t know I’m doing it. I’ve also found that with getting into the routine of using the calendar at work I’m also using the calendar on my phone in my personal life. It’s so useful, I’m beginning to think I must have just forgotten everything before!
What was your highlight?
I attended a skills event which was very exciting! It was the first time I have been asked to represent the organisation at an external event. I felt honoured and happy to be asked. It reminded me of being in school and presenting in front of class! I felt excited and confident that I could speak to people. Knowing that going forward I will be attending more events is great as now feel I can talk to people and give them the advice I wish I’d had when I was younger.
I was also invited to be part of enrolment tracker meetings. Part of my role as an administrator is adding new enrolments to the tracker so everyone knows what’s going on and what has been sent out. There was a meeting with Fraser, Regional Delivery Manager, and Paul, Operations Director, along with the department managers. I have started attending these meetings to talk through which apprenticeship enrolments and assessments have been done, and what needs sending out to learners. I then give learners a call or email to make sure they have everything they need.
It’s good to be involved in the meetings as Fraser and Paul can ask me to chase learners or assign tutors and I can action straight away. They are quite senior people so it was a bit daunting at first, but it felt good and like I’m trusted and progressing within my role. I am able to contribute and this has helped to boost my confidence.
How have things changed since you last wrote?
I met with a couple of new starters in April. Asma joined the apprenticeships team and each member of the team met with her to go through a few processes that she needed to know about. I went through the recruitment tracker and enrolment process. It was a good feeling as I felt like I’m no longer the new one. I feel like I know what I’m doing and it was good to share this with a new colleague.
I was speaking to a friend of mine who is starting a new job and this got me thinking about when I first started. I never imagined I’d be showing people what to do and attending skills events! I’ve made so much progress already.
“April was very good month for me, I didn’t face too many challenges and I’m feeling confident and happy in my role.”
Steven Vasiliou, Employer & Business Engagement Manager and Jessica’s line manager.
“Jessica has been outstanding this month constantly raising the bar. Jess has been taking more ownership and attending meetings as well as representing Ixion at the skills event and gaining another distinction. She was also above target regarding off-the-job training. Whoever Jess speaks to or comes across I receive nothing but positive feedback.
“Jess is the embodiment of what an apprentice should be.”