Samun Omer, reflects on her experience undertaking an apprenticeship
As I am approaching the end of my apprenticeship, I would like to describe my experience and how it has changed me. When I started the apprenticeship program I was a junior bookkeeper. My role was mainly associated with assisting the other senior bookkeepers in their tasks. I have recently been promoted to Senior bookkeeper and also had a pay rise. My apprenticeship has really helped me with this. I got to learn skills that I could implement in my job.
The apprenticeship program has given me the confidence and the ability to work independently. I confess that becoming an apprentice is not easy because you are constantly on the radar but you get to learn a lot. In my case before becoming an apprentice, I was very shy and struggled with confidence. I was afraid on trying technical things at work because I did not have the confidence in myself. The skills and behavior part in my apprenticeship pushed me to try new things at work because I needed to write about them in the reflective statements. The most important thing that I learned in my apprenticeship that changed my life is about failure. In my apprenticeship they said that a FAIL should be not be viewed as failure but as First Attempt In Learning. That is when I realized that the fear of failing acted as a barrier towards my development and after that I decided to change myself through taking up a lot more challenging tasks. I also implemented the knowledge in my services that I got from my apprenticeship courses.
The apprenticeship program is not only beneficial for the employee but also beneficial for the employer. The employer gets to benefit from the increased knowledge and skills of their employee . The apprenticeship program manipulates the employee to work hard and perhaps go that extra mile in their services because they are monitored by the apprenticeship program. The regular exams that apprentices face in their apprenticeship creates active brain cells for them that they could also implement in their services and provide benefit for their employers.
In conclusion, becoming an apprentice was the best decision I made in my career. The best thing about it is that you are not alone in this because your employer works jointly with you to ensure you have fulfilled each step successfully. The apprenticeship has not only improved my skills but has also helped creating a good bond with my employer. Many businesses should offer apprenticeships to their junior employees as it is beneficial to both sides.
About Samun Omer
Samun Omer is now a senior bookkeeper at Holy Brook Associates. She started the apprenticeship program in 2020 for AAT Level 3 studying with BPP with sponsorship and support from Holy Brook. Despite disruption due to the pandemic she is close to completing the program.