ICT was one of my most despised subjects in school, so I never expected to begin my career in technology, let alone fall completely in love with it!
After being told at school University was the ONLY valid option for me, I made the tough decision to go against the grain and pursue an apprenticeship. When interviewing with them, I had this undeniable gut feeling that Atos was the place for me and so I enrolled on an 18 month Level-4 Project Management apprenticeship with the confidence that ‘earning and learning’ could only be a positive thing.
I was thrilled to be proven correct when I was thrown into a management team straight away, where I led on training and development initiatives for over 600 colleagues, ran the performance management processes & organised and hosted monthly ‘All-Hands Calls’. Fast-forward to 2021… I find myself working with the BBC, managing my own IT Projects – having just won the ‘Apprentice Of the Year’ accolade out of our cohort of 50+ other apprentices. This was because, in less than 2 years I became the first apprentice to chair our Graduate, Intern and Apprentice Committee (also creating ‘GIGA’, to benefit our global young talent); I volunteered in 2 fundraising teams which raised over £100K supporting Britain’s vulnerable young people ; I started a BSc degree apprenticeship, and much more. Significantly, I did this all while running a variety of IT projects, including a key BBC portfolio worth over £1Million a year.