The Guildford 100 in 100 campaign is stimulating a great number of new opportunities for Apprenticeship placements within a wide range of organisations, but where can this type of learning at work take your career?
Nikki Hinton from Guildford has completed both an Apprenticeship and Advanced Apprenticeship and is quick to point out the way in which her these programmes have helped to shape her career.
“In order to be able to work in the gym environment I knew that there were certain industry recognised qualifications that I would need to achieve. At first I didn’t think that the opportunity would be open to me as I had left school with good grades across a range of subjects. Having discussed this with a training provider, I found out that the Apprenticeship course would provide me with the qualifications that employers in the leisure industry were looking for and would also give me that valuable element of experience.”
Nikki undertook her first Apprenticeship whilst working in a leisure centre and having demonstrated her commitment, she was soon looking for her next step. At this stage, she was rewarded with an increased level of responsibility and Nikki chose to work through the Leisure Management course. “I was new to management positions and wanted to broaden out my range of skills. To begin with I didn’t even realise that I would be able to move on from a first qualification and through into more advanced learning. Having spent some time in a management position I was keen to work with other people who were starting out and to share the experience that I had with them and it was at that point that an opportunity came up with the training company that had trained me.”
Fast forward to today and Nikki is working as an NVQ tutor with The Skills Partnership, “I hadn’t realised that my professional qualifications would have a value outside the industry itself. I was used to working one on one with clients and tutoring and coaching seemed to be a natural progression for me. Of course my learning didn’t end with my Apprenticeships, I continued to work and learn with the organisation picking up my assessor and teaching qualifications. I did find it tricky in the early stages, there is a lot of terminology to get used to, but luckily a lot of the transferable skills that I picked up during my apprenticeships really helped me out, such as my communication and numeracy qualifications.”
“It’s been a rewarding challenge to work with both younger and older learners across a range of courses. Some of the highlights have been the feedback you get from people who have found out what new doors their Apprenticeship course has opened up for them. From those who have been promoted through to personal trainers who wouldn’t have been able to start up their businesses without the course. We’ve also had learners who have moved through into Higher Education and have been able to use their advanced Apprenticeship to get into their first choice universities and to shorten their study time there.”
To find out more about Apprenticeship opportunities with The Skills Partnership, visit our website www.skillspartnership.co.uk or call us on the contact number found on our advertisement within this section.
