Meet Nicola who is a Marketing Assistant for Kent Hospitality and is currently undertaking the Level 3 Digital Marketer Apprenticeship.
Loretta Izod, Employee Apprenticeship Manager at Kent, asked Nicola to talk about the experience of undertaking an Apprenticeship and how it supports career and self development.
How did your career pathway bring you to the University of Kent, what is your position here and how long have you worked here?
I originally studied here as an undergraduate and after graduating and working elsewhere, I came back to work at the University about two and a half years ago. I have been in my current position as a Marketing Assistant for Kent Hospitality for over a year but I first started here as a Receptionist.
How did you find out about this Apprenticeship?
I was reading the Learning and Development e-newsletter and saw there was a talk about possible marketing apprenticeships coming up and decided to go along and see what opportunities were on offer.
Which Apprenticeship are you under taking and which training provider is supporting you?
I am currently undertaking the Digital Marketing Apprenticeship, with Arch Apprenticeships who is a national training provider. As I am one of ten employees here currently doing this Apprenticeship, they come to us here at Canterbury.
Why have you decided to use an Apprenticeship to support yourself and career development?
While I had worked as a Marketing Assistant in a previous job, this seemed like an ideal opportunity to build upon my experience and formalise my knowledge alongside my work responsibilities and help me develop moving forward in the future with my career.
Can you explain how your Apprenticeship works, eg what sort of training do you do? Who is your mentor?
My manager Laura is also my mentor, and the Apprenticeship works by combining tasks and projects that I would usually complete as part of my job alongside online training and lessons designed to build up knowledge and expertise. I then liaise monthly with my Learning Development Coach, Adijat, at Arch to discuss what I’ve done so far and what’s coming up with the programme.
What aspects of an Apprenticeship first caught your attention?
The main thing that drew me to the apprenticeship was how it sat alongside and supported your daily work in that you got hands-on experience carrying out what you had learned and could then immediately apply this or take it forward to develop with a future project.
How did you find the relevant information you needed to decide if an Apprenticeship was for you?
I attended the information talk initially, then any questions either I or my manager had were quickly answered by Loretta from the Learning and Development team who has a wealth of knowledge on the whole apprenticeship process.
If you would you like to know more about Apprenticeship and undertake one like Nicola, please contact Loretta Izod, your Employee Apprenticeship Manager
Ext 16568 or email – L.J.Izod@kent.ac.uk or Click here to visit the Kent Apprenticeships web page
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