Molly Banting: How a Business and Administration Apprenticeship Helped me Build a Career in HR

Molly Banting, ADSL Learning and Development Coordinator, completed her Level 2 Business and Administration Apprenticeship in 2015, after deciding that college and exams were not for her. She tells us how the Apprenticeship helped her gain valuable skills and knowledge, progress her career and achieve her goals. 

Q: What motivated you to choose an Apprenticeship over other options? 

A: I went to college for my A-Levels, however during my studies I realised that the pressure of exams was not something I enjoyed. When I was looking into employment options, I was looking at predominantly administration-based roles so decided to take a route that could get me qualifications as well as work experience, as I didn’t have either of them! 

Q: What skills and knowledge did you gain from your Apprenticeship? 

A: I learnt so much within my Apprenticeship. I feel it helped build a foundation of my customer service approach and communication within a workplace which has helped my career journey massively. It also helped me understand why things were done, such as GDPR regulations, why they were in place and what GDPR covers within the workplace, and particularly my role. I have worked within a Security department, and I now fall within HR so these skills have directly been involved with my day-to-day work. With my Apprenticeship it helped give me the knowledge to support what I was doing within the workplace, which really cemented my learning. 

Q: How did your Apprenticeship help you progress in your career or achieve your goals? 

A: All the roles I have held since my Apprenticeship required communication on a multitude of levels, and I don’t feel that I would have been able to achieve my goals and progress in my career without my customer service skills. I have also been lucky enough to move roles within Aspire based on the skills and knowledge that I have developed within my career, the foundations of which were laid during my Apprenticeship. 

I learnt so much within my Apprenticeship. I feel it helped build a foundation of my customer service approach and communication within a workplace which has helped my career journey massively.

— Molly Banting, Learning and Development Coordinator

Q: What challenges or difficulties did you face during your Apprenticeship and how did you overcome them? 

A: A skill all Apprenticeships require, without you necessarily knowing it, is time management. When I started my Apprenticeship, I had never had a full-time job, so it was a big culture shock to be studying and working. However, thanks to a specific Time Management unit that I’d studied as part of my Apprenticeship which taught me some useful tips and techniques, I was able to balance my work and study commitments. I learnt to map certain times out and dedicate uninterrupted time within my week so that I could write up notes on what I had done within the workplace that could support the learning within the Apprenticeship. 

Q: What advice would you give to someone who is considering an Apprenticeship or is currently doing one? 

A: Be open minded. A lot of an Apprenticeship is learning and then being able to reflect that learning in a real scenario and documenting it as evidence. You will be applying what you have learnt sometimes without even realising. 

Q: How do you feel about the value and recognition of Apprenticeships in your sector or industry? 

A: Luckily, I am within the Learning and Development sector, so Apprenticeships are well recognised. Within my industry, we also understand the value of being able to not only learn new skills and increase our knowledge on topics, but also how to implement these in the workplace and how important it is that what we are learning is relevant. Apprenticeships help to bind learning and implementation of skills. 

Q: What are some of the benefits or drawbacks of doing an Apprenticeship compared to other pathways? 

A: I think that I personally learnt more from my Apprenticeship because it made me implement as well as learn. It is easy to write an essay on something you’ve recently learnt about as the knowledge is fresh and you have notes. However, using the skills and putting them into practice is another thing.   

One drawback is that Apprenticeships aren’t suitable for every job, role or individual. They take a lot of commitment, both at work and personally. Management of your time and juggling a full-time job and an Apprenticeship is hard work, however I think the benefits outweigh the negatives.