03Feb
National Apprenticeship Week: Gemma Young, Project Management apprentice
This week (3rd – 9th February 2020) marks National Apprenticeship Week and we’re getting involved by celebrating some of the apprentices who are launching their logistics career at Gist.
We welcome apprentices on a number of courses including Gemma Young, who is currently working towards her Project Management Apprenticeship at Gist’s Head Office in Chineham.
“I left college with a place at university to study psychology but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after and whether I would use my degree. I realised I would be getting into debt and delaying going out into the ‘real world’ and earning money. The cost of university and everything that went with it made me think again so I decided to take a gap year.
Apprenticeships had never been an option mentioned to me at college. I wasn’t getting any of the jobs I applied for, or even an interview in some cases, because of my lack of experience. It was my mum’s friend who suggested I look into apprenticeships as it meant I could gain relevant experience and get a qualification.
I live in Basingstoke and at the time there weren’t apprenticeships out there that appealed to me, and then the Gist Project Management Apprenticeship came up. It was the only apprenticeship scheme I had seen that had progression afterwards and was interesting and something I wanted to learn about. After applying and going through the selection process, I started my apprenticeship in October 2019.
It has been a brilliant experience so far. The communication between me, our Early Talent team and my course provider is great. I attended my first workshop in early January and I’m all set to finish my course in October 2020.
My long term goal is to move from a Project Management Support Administrator role that I’m currently doing into a project management role and into an apprenticeship scheme Level 4.
I would recommend applying for an apprenticeship to anyone who is thinking about it. The amount of experience and business exposure I have gained is amazing. My written and verbal communication skills have improved and I feel more confident managing my priorities and delivering what people are asking for.
There is a great support network at Gist, in particular the Early Talent who have helped me along the way.
I’m happy that I made the right choice for myself and my future by choosing an apprenticeship.”