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During National Career Development month, we are looking closer at how apprenticeships are supporting the career development of our learners.
November is National Career Development Month, which aims to celebrate career development and encourage employers to promote professional growth opportunities to empower their staff to achieve their career goals. In this blog, we are exploring how the apprenticeships that we deliver at Watertrain are helping our learners to progress in their roles and careers.
Marc Southam, Portsmouth Water
Marc Southam began his apprenticeship journey with Watertrain as a Level 3 Smart Network Technician. After successfully completing his apprenticeship, Marc was promoted to Level 4 Network Improvement Analyst and then to Level 6 Team Lead in Smart Networks and Leakage.
This is a fantastic achievement and testament to Marc’s dedication to learning, achieving a 90% Distinction grade for his portfolio and an overall Distinction grade for his Apprenticeship Standard.
Commenting on his apprenticeship, Marc said: “Your teaching, and the qualification itself, have given us the skills to succeed in these roles as well as making us viable candidates for the jobs in the first place.”
Lydia Hancox, South West Water
Starting her career with South West Water as an apprentice with no prior water industry experience, Lydia Hancox not only achieved full-time employment, but since completing her apprenticeship she was promoted to a new role of a Planned Works Technician.
This achievement reflects the crucial role of apprenticeships in providing new recruits with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
Commenting on Lydia’s journey, Huw Evans, Learning Development Coach at Watertrain, said: “Lydia contributed greatly in the duration of the course delivery, adding to discussion points, group exercises as well as submitting great levels of work in both her knowledge questions and evidence. She was a joy to deliver to. It was really positive to watch her development within the role and apprenticeship and I was delighted to hear her good news of her promotion recently.”
Lola Campbell, South West Water
Lola Campbell begun her apprenticeship journey conscious that “as a young female manager at just 24”, she felt she “had a lot to prove”. After successfully completing her apprenticeship, Lola was promoted to Area Manager at South West Water.
Commenting on her apprenticeship, Lola said: “If I had gone to University, I would never have ended up doing this job, I would not have found this role – this is what the apprenticeship has given me. I am now an Area Manager and loving my role. The apprenticeship was a crucial ingredient in allowing me to go from an entry level role to having a great career path. I’m doing a job I’m proud of, a role I’ve trained for. Without the apprenticeship I wouldn’t be here.”
This excellent achievement highlights the importance of promoting apprenticeships to build a diverse workforce.
Keri Davies, Managing Director at Watertrain, added: “Our apprentices are excited to learn and see the benefit of their training and how it helps support career progression. Our apprenticeship programmes support learners from all backgrounds, with a variety of needs, providing effective training that leads to the majority of apprentices gaining additional responsibilities or receiving a promotion.”
Watertrain are working with a growing number of organisations to enhance knowledge and skills in the water industry, in turn supporting the career development of the learners we work with. We are proud to be a leading provider of apprenticeships to the water industry, holding the highest achievement rates for the apprenticeships we deliver, ‘excellent’ employer reviews, and most recently winning ‘Small Supplier of the Year’ at the Northumbrian Water Group GEM Awards.
To find out more about our apprenticeships, please visit www.watertrain.co.uk or contact info@watertrain.co.uk to arrange a conversation.
