Kim Hawthorne

When I first started to apply for apprenticeships with Sandwell council, I was unsure what I wanted to do. I finished my GCSE’S and A level’s a year early as a fast track student and wasn’t able to go to university for a further year.  When at School and sixth form there was a lack of communication about options after you left other than going to college or university. I feel that this is the path that is pushed on all the young students even if it isn’t something you wanted to do.  I only found out about apprenticeships through word of mouth and through some research done by myself. After volunteering with the Think Sandwell team, I saw the vacancy on offer and thought that I would enjoy doing the apprenticeship so I applied. 

Before starting my apprenticeship I thought that this would be good for me to become more independent. It would help me develop all my skills that I would need with my application to university .Also it would be some experience that I could use on my CV to help me gain other jobs in the future. I had the chance to not only develop skills that I already had but to also gain new skills needed in the work place. This apprenticeship is hard work but enjoyable as I am constantly doing work of all different aspects to help out the team as much as I can.

I am now on my second year of my apprenticeship after completing my NVQ Level 2 in Business administration. I am  currently working towards an NVQ Level 3 in business admin which I should complete by September 2015. Once my apprenticeship is complete I aim to gain a full time job doing business admin.

Before I started my apprenticeship I wanted to go into teaching in a primary school. After completing my apprenticeship I am unsure what I would like to do as it has opened many possibilities for me.