As a business, EMR is committed to helping its employees develop their careers and increase their skillsets. For Jessica Chamberlain, who joined the business in 2017, this approach has seen her embark on two separate apprenticeship courses in less than five years.
“I started working for EMR at 18 having just left sixth form and was taken on as a business admin apprentice,” she explains.
This apprenticeship gave Jessica the skills and experience required to work for a busy and fast-growing business like EMR:
“It was all about understanding how the business runs – from sending emails with the right business tone and how to communicate within the company, to running social media accounts, understanding the finance side and managing relationships and meetings.”
This broad foundational introduction to EMR allowed Jessica to understand her strengths and to discover where her interests lay. Yet, the apprenticeship wasn’t only a learning opportunity for her.
“EMR were really flexible with letting me try different things. I worked with the HR department for a couple of weeks and spent some time with resourcing.
“It was a two-way street because it let EMR figure me out and allowed me to figure EMR out,” she says.
Jessica’s first roles within the EMR Group were as part of its training company, MET Academy, first as administrator and then as a training coordinator.
“I ended up specialising in compliance because I was booking all of EMR’s plant and compliance training within MET already, so it seemed like a natural choice.”
Jessica’s decision to embark on a second apprenticeship stems from her ambition to develop her career further within EMR. In September last year she had the opportunity to move into a role in the Learning and Development team – an opportunity that would require a whole new set of advanced skills and experience.
“I applied for a Business Partner role but, speaking to the team, I didn’t have the required qualifications yet. Rather than say “no”, EMR offered me a role as a Learning and Development Advisor and gave me the opportunity to take a Learning and Development Business Partner apprenticeship.”
The 18-month course began in October and will allow Jessica to fulfil her ambitions for the next stage of her career. “It’s giving me a path to follow,” she says.
The new role also allows her a chance to get to sites and meet teams that she has got to know through her years as an administrator and training coordinator at MET Academy:
“I seem to know everybody at the sites already – and everyone knows me – so when I go to sites it’s nice to see people face-to-face rather than over the phone.”
Jessica says that the support EMR has given her to develop her career is one of the many reasons that, five years after starting her “first real job”, she continues to see a long and bright future working at the company.
While the opportunities for career progression are one of the major advantages that Jessica believes has kept her at EMR, it is her attitude, determination and enthusiasm for development that has ensured these opportunities have been made available.
“When there are courses and opportunities to learn, I will take whatever I can get. You’re only going to be offered development opportunities like this once.”
In addition to her current apprenticeship, Jessica has also just completed a course in NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.
“With the NEBOSH course, I knew it was going to be hard but I’m not going to say no because the qualification that you get from it is something that’s nationally recognised across all industries,” she says. “I knew that this would really help me to develop in my career.”
And as Jessica continues to study, learn, and apply the skills that she is acquiring, the whole business is benefiting from her hard work and determination to progress.
