Apprentice Diaries – Q & A with our new HR apprentice

We have virtually caught up Charley our new HR apprentice at AGI.  Here’s what she’s been up to… 

What is your background?

I live in a small village called Hazelbury Bryan, my house is surrounded by fields and animals. I went to one of the smallest schools in Dorset where I did all my studies. I took A Level Business, Media and Photography. Throughout school, business had always been my favourite subject I knew I wanted to go into something that had a business aspect. I am definitely a practical and hands on learner, my choice of studies can reflect this. I knew an apprenticeship would be a good style to learn in and build my experience.

How does your apprenticeship work?

My HR apprenticeship is for 18 months, every week I attend Poole and Bournemouth college for a day to study and grow my HR knowledge. I am set assessments to complete for certain dates, each week learning about a new topic relevant to what the assessment is on. At AGI I learn new skills and do tasks that are relevant to what I am working on at College, I will also discuss what I learn with my team and we will have conversations about how it can be linked to AGI.

What is it about AGI that interests you?

As a student who studied business for the past four years, I wanted to go into a sector of business that really interested me and felt would challenge me. HR was something that I felt I would fit into well and enjoyed learning about it previously. Engineering was a completely new industry for me and working within this made it seem even more appealing. I felt this could challenge me further, having no experience in the industry opened a massive gap of valuable knowledge and experience I could have.

How have you found AGI?

So far, I genuinely love it. To make a decision at only 18 on how I want to start my career and which path is best to go down, I really feel I have made the right choice. From my first day, everyone has been so welcoming and friendly. The team I work with are so supportive and I never feel I am unable to ask questions.

Hobbies & Interests?

I’ve always been into sport, I represented North Dorset for both gymnastics and netball which I enjoyed thoroughly. I did cheerleading for a year when I was 13 and then went on to begin my kickboxing journey. Now, I have achieved a First Degree Black Belt in Kickboxing, also achieved a credit pass in my black strip. Additionally, I’ve always been creative. I love art, photography and media, when this can be combined with a task in HR, it’s one of my favourite tasks to be working on. This is one of the reasons why I love working for AGI, I am able to show AGI what I can create and additional skills I am able to offer. AGI is really open with this and has been very supportive with projects I have worked on already.

How are you coping with home working during the current COVID-19 situation?

It’s definitely a little different to normal but I’m still able to work effectively thanks to AGI providing me with the resources I needed to be able to work at home. AGI has been really supportive through this process and have helped wherever they can to make sure when I work from home I have all the equipment necessary. The hardest part is not being able to socialise with everyone in the office, it is what makes the apprenticeship all the more enjoyable than how much I like it already. My role hasn’t been majorly impacted, physical tasks that I have, I tend to do when I’m in the office, I just have to make sure I schedule my tasks for when I’m in and out of the office. This has improved my organisation skills though which I count as a bonus.