What made you choose an apprenticeship with us?

After finishing my GCSEs at Vale Academy in Brigg, I decided the apprenticeship route was the best career path for me. I was excited when I saw the Functional Apprenticeship vacancy; it was too good an opportunity to miss. The vast amount of experience and knowledge I could gain through completion of the apprenticeship programme made the opportunity particularly attractive. I was keen to begin learning in the workplace through experiencing different roles within the Procurement department, as well as through the completion of an NVQ in Business Admin.

What are the top three highlights of your job?

There is a great variety of processes and products for me to develop my knowledge. Every day is different, making the role both challenging and enjoyable.

The opportunity to visit different site areas on a regular basis is extremely interesting. I love seeing how the work I do in the office directly impacts areas out on plant.

I have enjoyed building relationships with colleagues in Procurement. The support I have received from my first day in the business has made me feel comfortable and a valued member of the team.

What work have you been doing within the Procurement department?

The most recent experience I have had within Procurement has been in the Sundry Sales role. The Sundry Sales team receive requests from plant areas to sell items, ranging from coal to machinery, which they no longer require. Recently, I have been working with the Structural Workshops to sell redundant equipment and bring money back into the business. To date, this has generated significant savings – the work is still ongoing.

I have also been researching new companies to sell our products to and building relationships with external stakeholders both in the UK and overseas. I have enjoyed visiting different plant areas and broadening my knowledge of the business, plant areas and products we sell.

What advice would you give to any young people considering a career here?

I would encourage anyone considering a career here to grasp the opportunity! Working within such a large business that allows you to tailor your own career with the support of fellow colleagues is a rare and rewarding experience.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A policewoman – I then realised the press-ups in the police entrance fitness test would get the better of me!

When did you start your Apprenticeship?

April 3^rd, 2017

How long is your Apprenticeship?

1 year

What type of Apprenticeship did you choose?

Sales admin in car sales

What made you choose this Apprenticeship?

I've always liked cars so working at a car dealership sounded good to me.  Also, I thought I could fit the role well, which I believe I have. 

When you were first considering your next step in education, what options were you considering?

Either an apprenticeship or college. But I ended up going to sixth form for a few months as when I left school there were no apprenticeships that appealed to me so I decided to stay on at sixth form so I could keep looking until the right one came up.

What made you decide on studying an Apprenticeship over the other options available to you?

I decided on an apprenticeship over college or sixth form because I wanted to do something different other than have a teacher or tutor teach you all day.

How likely would you be to recommend an apprenticeship or traineeship?

Very.

What are the main benefits of your apprenticeship or traineeship training?

I do all my learning on the job, whereas other apprenticeships the person will go college either in blocks or one or two days a week.

What were your career aspirations before starting? Have they changed since starting?

Honestly before starting I didn’t know what I wanted to do career wise at all. But now I want to keep in the car trade.

What do you do day-to-day at work?

Set up policies such as Safeguards and GAP Insurance for customers, organise deals, help out colleges, answer calls and emails etc.

Would you say it is helping build your career?

Yes, because I learn more and more everyday about the trade I'm in, about working and about business and how they're ran

Are you enjoying your apprenticeship?

Yes

How about the training?

Yes, the training is very good because I have a tutor visit me once a month to see how I am progressing on the job and she helps me keep on progressing with tips and how to do well.

Do you have any top tips or words of wisdom for someone thinking about doing an apprenticeship?

Do it. It is a lot better than school as you are continuously learning and doing different jobs rather than being sat at a desk all day.

How long did it take you to find your apprenticeship?

A few months.

There are currently dozens of openings for volunteers across Lincolnshire and one of the people helping others into the roles saw his own life transformed by giving his time for free.

Jody Raggo is now an area officer with Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS).

He originally joined LCVS eight years ago in a voluntary capacity. Back then his confidence was low, he felt stuck in a rut and he was struggling to motivate himself.

Jody had taken stop-gap jobs in retail and catering on leaving university with a degree in English and film studies, but wanted to shift to an administration role.

A training coach he was referred to via the Job Centre advised volunteering after Jody faced five months of unemployment, applying for roles that he didn’t get due to lack of experience.

Jody was nervous when he joined LCVS (then called South Lincolnshire CVS) as an administration volunteer in February 2010, but it proved the perfect platform into a new career when seven months later a paid role became available.

He said: “I enjoyed being around a close-knit and friendly team of paid staff and fellow volunteers and was able to utilise my existing skills and knowledge to my fullest effect.

“I was able to gain work experience and qualifications through my volunteering (I completed a Level 3 NVQ in Business Management whilst I was volunteering), which then led to a paid job in September 2010 that I have been in ever since.

“It has helped me gain confidence and a sense of being within a community again as well as given me self-belief in my abilities and skills.”

His experience not only led to a new career but also led him to continue volunteering long term.

Jody, 37, of Boston, continues to volunteer as a dog walker at Jerry Green Dog Rescue, in Algarkirk, and on resident committees Witham Central and Carlton Road Neighbourhood Action Group and High Street South and Boston East Neighbourhood Action Group. With LCVS, Jody has previously worked in East Lindsey and is now area officer in Grantham and Boston. His role involves promoting and enabling volunteering and supporting community groups with things like funding and policies.

Jody said: “Volunteering is very fulfilling and can help change lives. It certainly has mine!

“There are many roles that people can do and I believe there is a voluntary role for everyone out there whatever your skills and experience may be. I would definitely encourage people to give it a go.”

LCVS supports people to volunteer in Boston, Spalding, Louth and Grantham in a wide variety of roles ranging from radio presenting to race marshalling.

As part of a four week work experience placement with Lindum in the summer of 2014 Rosie got to know the company and some of the people first hand so when the trainee position was advertised Rosie had no hesitation in applying for the vacancy.

The Priory City of Lincoln Academy is a school which has a well-established working relationship with Lindum and both support the Career Academies UK, a national charity that links schools and colleges with employers to help prepare young people for the world, through which Rosie’s initial work experience was organised.

Sara Hobson, Group Training Manager for Lindum, was appointed as Rosie’s mentor through the programme, she explains “As a local company we work with many local education organisations to help support the training and development of young people and this particular initiative run by the Careers Academies UK has proved very successful for both the students and employers. Students get real life experience of working in a commercial environment and employers gain fresh ideas and inspiration from the students input and what could be even better than when they come work for us!”

Since starting work for Lindum, Rosie has quickly established herself as a valuable member of the team and is enjoying her new career. Working as part of the Training Team, Rosie is responsible for organising events and administering the company’s extensive training and development programme. Not only is she helping train others Rosie is herself now a qualified ‘Construction Ambassador’ after successfully completing the CITB course and is actively involved in promoting careers in construction to young people.

“I consider myself very fortunate to work for Lindum and have enjoyed every minute here so far” said Rosie. “The people I work with are both supportive and encouraging in my ongoing career development and the variety of duties I get to carry out as part of my job role makes my work interesting and very rewarding. One day I could be representing Lindum at a local careers fair and the next day arranging an in-house training event for over 30 people, there is never a dull moment!”

Rosie is currently enrolled on the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) level 3 course and is completing this alongside other trainees at Lindum.

 “Safelincs is a company that offers new challenges every day, invests in training and reflects my own personal ambition and goals”

Following the completion of my degree in Business Studies in Nottingham and a year travelling Asia and Australia, I started my career with Safelincs as a Product Administrator, sourcing new products and services for our retail sites. Within a year I had progressed to Product Manager, hiring a new Product Administrator to assist me. As the company grew we took on a second Product Administrator to aid me with the ever evolving and rapidly growing portfolio of goods and services we offer.

In the summer of 2012 we decided to attempt pro-active selling and I began a part-time split role visiting customers face-to-face and attending events to represent Safelincs. 3 years on and my role is divided between leading the Product Department and heading up the Business Development Department continuing to be actively involved with both supplier and customer relations.

‘Talking to our customers means we find the best solutions for them by taking into account their specific needs.’