Callum has been with British Glass for around a year and a half and is currently undertaking a chartered manager degree apprenticeship in professional business practice at Sheffield Hallam University.
Why did you choose an apprenticeship?
When I was younger, I always wanted to go to university but when I’d finished my college course I wanted to get more experience and apply learning in a professional environment, so that really leant itself to an apprenticeship.
Tell us about your role, what does a typical day look like?
One of my favourite parts of my role is the variety, I work cross-departmental in a sense that I provide support across a lot of British Glass federation activities – so I act as a committee secretariat for many of the committees we have at British Glass. I do a lot of the data collection and implementation in relation to H&S, E&E, trade, container recycling. I also supervise information services a couple of times a week and monitor internal performance for reporting value to members.
A typical day starts with an internal team meeting and recently has focused a lot on data collection and analysis and reviewing admin for the committees I am the secretariat for.
How does your apprenticeship work?
Throughout my apprenticeship I am required to do 20% of my hours for something that’s called ‘off-the-job training’, this equates to one day per week and I mostly use this for assignments, then I have a block of training six times per year which is a week in university. I also have quarterly reviews with my line manager and a university representative to make sure I’m progressing ok both at university and at work. To meet the criteria for the apprenticeship end-point-assessment (which takes place after the degree is finished) I complete a portfolio of evidence to make sure I am meeting the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of the apprenticeship and this it with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).
What is the best thing about your apprenticeship?
I am able to utilise what I’ve been taught in a professional environment; I find it much better to apply the knowledge and theory to something I am involved in day to day rather than a hypothetical situation or case study which is what I was doing at college.
What would you say to others thinking about an apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship will equip you for your career by providing knowledge on your chosen area of study. You gain real world experience at the workplace, and learn the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to help you grow personally and professionally. An apprenticeship also offers a great learning environment as well because the other people on the course all want to be there.
In the end, you get a degree and relevant experience for employment, and you get paid to do it rather than pay to do it which is a great bonus!
Are you looking for an apprenticeship?
We're currently hiring for the role of apprentice environmental monitoring technician.
The successful candidate will assist the team with the analysis of furnace emissions, ensuring all equipment is maintained and calibrated and assisting with report writing and processing test results. The postholder will spend approximately 50% of their time out on site and the remaining time will be spent travelling around the UK with occasional overnight stays.
