Ayla Cerri, Business apprentice working attelent, blogs about how leaving two dead-end jobs do aQA Apprenticeshiphas kick-started an amazing career.
At college I felt as though I was letting myself, my parents and my family down, and that my teachers were disappointed in me for not achieving. When I began working instead I started to feel much more proud of myself, but I knew that just getting a job wasn’t enough for me. After being turned down for a few level three apprenticeships, I decided that the only way I was going to get to where I wanted to be was through hard work and doing something that I enjoyed and that I wanted to do.
Before I started myQA Apprenticeship, I was working full time in a hotel bar and part time in retail. I also started studying a level 2 distance learning course in business and administration to try and get some qualifications under my belt and make myself more employable. Despite getting on with my course and meeting all my deadlines, I still felt I wasn’t getting anywhere. There was no room in my two dead-end jobs to utilise my new found qualification and passion for business. Even if there was, the lack of sleep and social & family life was slowly defeating me.
That’s where QA came in! I went to Slough for an interview and four weeks later, I had been offered a Business Level 3 apprenticeship. I now realise that there is no shame whatsoever in not wanting to go to college or university. I wish there was more support and advertising for apprenticeships when I was at school, because I know I would have chosen my future after GCSEs very differently.
I love the work placement that I’m in and I have had the best year of my life; I have become a professional person and I am now doing what I love. This is the beginning of my career and the rest of my life! It was scary at first, but I would do this leap of faith again and again given the chance.
Ayla featuring in the Star Courier
QA can really change your life. I was supported from the moment I gave in my CV, through my interview and all the way along my course. I am now ready to complete in six weeks and I couldn’t have done this without the help of my assessor Julie from QA. It’s been an amazing experience and I could not have gained this experience anywhere else. I’ve worked with teams and customers that I never imagined I would, learnt more than I thought I could achieve and my confidence in my role is increasing all the time. I’m so excited to progress onto a Level 4 Project Management apprenticeship; it will be a big step up but I will have the support of QA and my employer, so I know that I can do it!
If you are unhappy with where you are now and where you are going, QA could change your life and make your dreams about your career become achievable, like mine!
QA have hundreds of employers across the UK looking for apprentices like you.
