My apprenticeship journey

My apprenticeship journey

Sam Browne is a Project Manager at NCH&C. Here he tells us about his career journey which started with an apprenticeship in HR:

“In April 2015, I started as an apprentice in Human Resources (HR) on a 12 month apprenticeship at NCH&C. I wanted to start a career and find something that I loved to do. HR seemed like a good place to start.

“Throughout my apprenticeship I worked with a lot of different people, and was supported in many different ways. I was given a mentor to support me on a day to day basis and also supported by the learning and development team, who made sure I was enjoying my role and helped me if I needed it with my NVQ assignments.

“Nine months in to the apprenticeship, I was confident enough to begin applying for different permanent roles at NCH&C. I was really pleased that I was successful in getting the first role I applied for and I became a Project and Service Quality Assistant within the Estates Project Office.

“Within a year in this role, I was promoted to Programme Support Officer, for continuingly working above and beyond my Band 3 role. I was  given more autonomy and responsibility and I had found that something I really enjoyed doing: projects.

“I moved to the NCH&C Projects and Investment team on a secondment where I gained qualifications in Agile Project Management, APM Project Management Qualification and Lean Six Sigma Yellow and Green Belt qualifications. I have recently been promoted in this team again, which is great. My career is really progressing, there are always new opportunities.

“I’m a real advocate of apprenticeships and have worked with Norfolk County Council to talk to other young people about apprenticeships as a way to get your foot in the door of a career path, even if you’re not sure what your career will end up being. Even if the apprenticeship isn’t the role you want to do for the rest of your life, it’s a starting point to build relationships within an organisation and help find the right role for you. You also learn so many skills that will be useful in whatever career you end up pursuing.”