Published : Thu 6th Feb
Leo had always known that an apprenticeship was for him, as he liked the idea of learning on the job rather than sitting in a classroom and this role has given him the chance to be involved in lots of different projects:
Why did you choose to apply for an IT apprenticeship?
I knew I wanted to go down the apprenticeship route since secondary school, this is because IT has always been the field I knew I would pursue and I have always thought apprenticeships are the best option in the context of IT. I knew that going for an apprenticeship, especially in an organisation such as the National Trust, would give me the opportunity to learn by doing instead of strictly studying. This was important to me as I believe this is the best way to pick up new skills.
What are the best things about the apprenticeship?
I think the approach that the National Trust take to their apprentices is one of the best things about being an apprentice. Everyone is very understanding and more than happy to help and answer questions, there is no pressure on the apprentice to know everything immediately and everyone works in a way that ensures the apprentice is able to keep learning in-work while balancing their studying without being overwhelmed. The ability to shadow and join in on tasks that wouldn’t be available elsewhere is also a great thing about the apprenticeship.
What challenges have you faced?
My personal biggest challenge was finding the most effective methods of approaching the study side of the apprenticeship, it was easy to not fully take in what I was studying at first because it somewhat clashed with what I was doing in-work. My team has always been understanding in this regard and have always tried to align in-work tasks with the topics I’m studying, and I’m always given any needed time to focus on the study aspect of things.
Have you done anything that you didn’t expect whilst on your apprenticeship?
Being involved in fairly large tasks/projects early on and being given opportunities to meet leadership staff came as a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting this as there are plenty of organisations where leadership teams and other levels of staff are more separated and I overall didn’t expect to be included in large-scale projects as early as I was.
