A Day In The life Of An Apprentice
It all starts when you plan your future and experience endless attempts to find full time employment, uncertainty if full time education is the correct path and sometimes confusion on where and how to start working towards the future. I found the key to my future when I enrolled as an Apprentice Benefits Officer with the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
After being in a dilemma, whether to progress on to university or other full-time education, I came across the Apprenticeship scheme.
The best thing about an Apprenticeship is that it welcomes you to the real world, the working world. At first it was a struggle for me to make up 36 hours of work in a week and I found time keeping challenging. I received a lot of support from my employer, assessor and Customer service Tutor. Together, with targets, they were able to help me adapt to the working life.
Since I have been an apprentice, I can proudly tell people what I do with my life and what my future plans are. Even those apprenticeships that do not have any jobs available at the end are worth doing as it gives you a qualification and experience that is recognised.I would recommend to any individual who is serious about building their future to do an Apprenticeship as it can bring success into your life.
My only advice would be to build a good relationship with your team mates and managers and to perform your best whilst you are at work. Remember the working world is completely different to education! To ensure success, you must remember that attendance, punctuality and performance must be at its best at all times.
Customer Service Apprentice
- "I want more cooking skills and I want to learn how to follow a recipe."
"I'm useless in the kitchen. That's why I'm here. I attempt to cook for my family - but I'm no good at it." - "It's the highlight of the week. I really look forward to my Spanish class - and it feels great being able to speak Spanish in Spain."
- "The standard of most work is excellent, with some better described as exceptional."
City and Guilds examiner reporting on CLaSS's fashion and textiles work. - "I'm getting on for 84 now. I couldn't believe my luck last year when I realised I could attend basic computer classes. I started with the complete basics and I now have qualifications in word processing and databases - and have started my own blog."
- "My friends in other parts of London are astonished by what you can do here in Waltham Forest. The British Wheel of Yoga Foundation course was inspirational - and I am now well on the way to becoming a fully qualified yoga teacher. Carry on the good work, CLaSS!"
- "My brother was born deaf. None of us - my parents or my other brothers - ever learnt sign language. I can't believe that now. It seems so wrong. Now thanks to CLaSS I've really learnt to communicate properly with my brother"
- "I work at an estate agents as a receptionist. I mentioned I was taking a photography course with CLaSS and now I do all the property shoots. I'm even getting paid a bit more!"
- "I speak four languages and have been an interpreter for five years - but I've never had any formal training before now. This course is amazing - if we discuss something on our course one week,it always comes up at work the next - like not going inside the house before the social worker arrives."
- "Parenting courses are great! You realise that everyone has the same worries as you - and that there are practical strategies you can learn that really do work. I thank the Lord for the Calm Parent - Calm Children course I attended."
- "I cook - but I don't follow recipes and amounts. My daughter is doing cookery GCSE at school and I'd like to help her with that."
