Learning at Work Week: An Apprentice's Journey
This year's theme for Learning at Work Week is 'Learning Journeys', which aims to celebrate and inspire everyone's unique learning experiences.
Lauren Bundu took on a Level 2 Business Adminsitration apprenticeship at The Learning Foundry and is flying high as a People Services Assistant at The Regenda Group.
Tell us how you ended up in your role at The Regenda Group?
I finished my sociology degree in 2017 and ended up staying on in the retail job I had during my studies. Due to a lack of experience, I found it hard to get a job in an office environment, so took a supervisory role in another store.
I found that the job was not suited to me and my goals for the future, so I decided to look into apprenticeships in Liverpool. Human Resources was an area I had been particularly interested in whilst at University, so I applied for a role at The Regenda Group and was successful at interview.
What challenges did you face when learning new skills?
Not having the breath of knowledge in HR, there is obviously a lot of new things to learn and HR was done very differently than anywhere else I had worked previously. But I found my team and my manager to be very helpful, they have always explained anything I didn’t understand and didn’t make me feel stupid for asking obvious questions.
I think one of the challenges I faced was berating myself when making mistakes or not knowing how to do something.
What surprised you about yourself?
Some of the skills I had learnt from university and my previous retail experience which I didn't think would be relevant for this role, turned out to be really useful.
What’s the best piece of advice you can give about learning and developing?
I would say believe in your abilities and push yourself to try courses and training that you may not necessarily believe you are capable of doing.
I would also say I'm lucky in that I can take advantage of all the great training that The Regenda Group offers! You should always make time for your own personal growth. So always keep an eye on what opportunities are out there at your company/organisation.
Finally, I would say try courses that provide you with transferrable skills because they can help you get different jobs in the future and add value to your current role. My Level 2 Business Admin qualification at The Learning Foundry was excellent and I have also recently completed a Project Management qualification through 'Live and Learn' and have found that has been very useful for me on a day-to-day basis.
Could an apprenticeship be right for you?
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