Celebrating success and looking beyond

To help celebrate National Apprenticeship Week we took some time to talk with Steve Manifold, our First Aid Trainer, to discuss his recent Management Level 5 Apprenticeship.  During our chat, Steve tells us about his journey through the qualification, how he overcame a daunting start with some great support to succeed in completing the course.

My name's Steve, I'm a First Aid Trainer with Busy Bees Education and Training.

I started my apprenticeship Late 2017 and finished around about May 2019. I was offered the chance to do my Management Level 5 - when I first started I was 59, after about 6 weeks I wondered what I'd done!

What were the challenges you faced?

I really found it difficult, I didn't know how to sort of motivate myself, I also felt I'd took too much on, but with the guidance of the training officers, got through that and I didn't feel it being a problem not being young.

What support did you get from your employer/line manager?

My immediate line manager was very supportive, gave me time in which to do some work to the apprenticeship, and her line managers also the same.

How has BB Training supported you during your Apprenticeship?

They gave me every possible chance to complete the apprenticeship, they supported me, they gave me certain things that would help me, and near the end it was like a breeze, it'd become easier because I'd got my head around the way I needed to operate. 

The work I completed was on the job, obviously some revision at night. The new skills I learnt were all about management, and - I knew *some* - but there certain other functions that I hadn't heard of, and different theories and tasks, and it broke everything down, and made you study, and then you sort of re-evaluated things, and it made me evaluate life, and how am I doing at work, and how can I help others. 

How are you feeling now you’ve completed your qualification?

I was very proud when I achieved my end-point assessment. I had to do my Functional Skills again, cos it was 42 years since I last did a Maths or an English Exam. Luckily with the online learning, and with one or two of the courses, I managed to get back into the groove of doing Maths and English again.

There is a common Myth that Apprenticeships are only for younger people or school leavers, and not something that can not to be taken advantage of at any stage of your career. What is your opinion of this?

The common myth about apprenticeships is mainly it's for the young - but it's for any age. My pay didn't alter, cos I was obviously on a full wage. I did it while I was fully employed, and just because I'm an apprentice, it didn't drop down to an apprentice wage, it just meant I could get a qualification. 

Do you have any advice for anyone considering an Apprenticeship?

The advice I'd give to anybody offered an apprenticeship is *take it* no matter what age you are, whether you're young or whether you're old, it can further your career, it can help you gain knowledge, and of course achieve a diploma at the end of it.

To find out more on the apprenticeships we offer click here.