February is here, and so too is National Apprenticeship Week. This 5-day nationwide event celebrates and promotes all that’s great about apprenticeships. Now in its 13th year, National Apprenticeship Week has become a calendar highlight for us at Access. Why? It’s an opportunity to celebrate the success and shine the limelight on our awesome apprentices.
Why are apprenticeships important to Access?
Here at Access we are firm believers and advocates of Apprenticeships. Apprenticeships allow us to reach out to new talent and give us an insight into their creativity and new ideas which can be brought to the table.
As well as a benefit for the apprentice by providing them with key exposure to a business environment, the business can also take great benefit by allowing these members of staff to flourish in their departments and provide support in all departments which can include IT, marketing, HR, accounting, business development and customer care.
As well as the apprentices gaining key knowledge in their roles, they also have access to clients and suppliers alike, which gives them the platform to build professional relationships. Mentoring is a big thing for us a business too as it allows us to share best practice with our processes and procedures, but it can also help develop staff further under the guidance of an experienced member of the team.
Follow us on social media to see what our apprentices have to say about #NAW2020 and keep up to date with our campaign!
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A day in the life
We’re bringing you behind the scenes to see what it’s really like to be an apprentice. We want to help anyone who is thinking of becoming an apprentice gain a true understanding of the life of an apprentice and how it differs from a full-time vocational course.
“Our shifts start a little bit later here at Access just due to the nature of the business we work with, the TV & Film industry work later into the day so the patterns cover for the time we’re in the office. Today my assessor will be in the office to look over the work set from my previous visit. Visits normally take place every 4-6 weeks.
Today’s visit will involve my assessor sitting with me at my desk and shadowing my work to collect evidence for the units that form part of my business admin qualification. We also have a lunch and learn today where a hotel supplier will be coming into see us and usually bringing some goodies (pizza and doughnuts are on today’s agenda). Lunch and learns help form part of my 20% off the job training which is carefully planned out as part of my bespoke training plan.
My appointment will usually take between 1-2 hours, during the day I will carry on with my work including making bookings, working with my buddy groups and undertaking further training on various aspects of my job.”
What our apprentices say…
To show our support for National Apprenticeship Week 2020, we wanted to hear from our apprentices:
“An apprenticeship is an amazing opportunity to be part of and it gives you the ability to learn and work at the same time, therefore putting methods into practice in the office environment. I started at Access Bookings as a Hotel Booking Coordinator and progressed onto becoming a Team Leader 2 years later.
I was fortunate enough to then progress onto becoming a Head of Department another 2 years later and having completed my apprenticeship. The beauty of working my way up through the department is that at some point, I’ve been in the same role as everyone in the team, so I felt comfortable giving them the advice needed. I would 100% recommend taking on an apprenticeship to anyone.”
– Mary (NVQ Level 2 Business Administration)
“I joined Access Bookings as an apprentice and worked towards a business and administration qualification. I found this was the perfect way to start my career as I was able to work and gain practical experience, at the same time as completing a qualification. Not only did I learn the necessary skills for my role at Access, but the business and admin course taught me a lot of skills that would be extremely beneficial to any other office-based job.
I received invaluable support from both my team at Access, and my tutor from the college. Now, after completing my apprenticeship, I feel that I grown a lot in confidence and knowledge and Access Bookings are continuing to help me develop my career even further. I definitely recommend this apprentice scheme to anyone.”
– Katie (NVQ Level 2 Business Administration)
Want to find out more? Check out our careers page!
Still interested? Just send your CV with a covering email to apprenticeships@accessbookings.com explaining why you want to be part of the Access Apprenticeship Programme and what you are looking to do in the future, we’ll then contact you regarding any open positions that we have or coming up!
