Jess's Apprenticeship Journey – One year anniversary!
This month Jess celebrated her one year work and apprenticeship anniversary. We sat down with Jess to record a very special podcast looking back at her journey so far. Listen to the podcast and read an extract below.
Jess is completing a Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship, and you can share her journey and progression with her monthly updates!
Listen to Jess's apprenticeship journey podcast
To celebrate Jess’s one-year apprentice anniversary we recorded a special podcast for our Start Your Future series. We talked about Jess’s story from leaving school to starting an apprenticeship, the highlights of her year and advice for young people not sure of their next steps.
Listen to the full episode below or read on for a sneak peak.
What have been some of your highlights from the year?
I have had a lot of highlights it feels like! I would argue that every time I get a distinction, that’s a highlight.
One specific highlight was when I did a review and I was told that I was above target, all my progress was above target and my off-the-job hours had been done. I’d done really well in my assignments, and I was looking to start my end-point assessment. For me, that was a major thing and it was definitely a highlight because I’ve worked really hard on my apprenticeship which I definitely didn’t do in some of my previous studies.
So, when I got that really positive feedback, I just remember coming off that phone call feeling really happy. I felt like I’d turned it around. I was told in the call they had noticed that I’m a lot more confident, more capable and doing well with my responsibilities. It was the first time that I actually felt like I not just know what I’m doing but I really know what I’m doing.
When I came off that phone call it felt like I had changed. It was the moment for me when I felt like all that hard work had paid off.
Another highlight was when I came to the office and I was able to start meeting people in person. That was quite a big thing for me because, even though I had met everyone on Teams, going into the actual office environment was completely new to me. I was worried about what to wear, saying something wrong and not knowing where things like the kitchen were.
But I came in and met my tutor and my line manager, and I just felt immediately comfortable. I think it was almost another point of realisation that I had done well.
In general I think it’s hard to pinpoint specific highlights because I feel like it’s been quite a slow and gradual process. But if you look from now to the beginning I think my progress has been quite dramatic.
How do you think the apprenticeship is going to benefit you going forward?
Before I started this apprenticeship, I put myself in a category and thought I’d closed the lid. Initially getting onto this apprenticeship, that was my plan. I just wanted to work and get on with it.
I don’t have a specific next step. My next step at the moment is my end-point assessment. But I do know that I like working for Ixion part of Shaw Trust, I very much enjoy it.
I’ve been given a lot of opportunities to meet other teams and see how they work, and it’s given me an idea of a few that I would maybe like to explore more.
It’s also made me aware of what I don’t want to do. That’s quite helpful because not everybody is going to have a clear of idea of what they want to do with their whole lives or in their career, I definitely didn’t.
However, from this apprenticeship I now know that I would do another one if it fitted in with the next job role I was doing and I know that I want to progress within the company.
One key thing that my apprenticeship has given me is motivation and work ethic to continually progress and move. Even though I don’t know my specific next steps, I do know that I want to continue to work, continue to progress my learning, knowledge, skills and behaviours. It’s given me motivation, drive and made me a lot more ambitious.