Article by Phil
We recently asked Leah to explain why she chose a financial services apprenticeship, here’s what she said……
“I never really knew what I wanted to pursue a career in, before I left school in July 2018, so I attended many different local open evenings for apprenticeship roles; which is exactly where I found this exciting opportunity to work for Christina Clegg.
I feel like there is a lot of pressure upon teenagers to know what they want to do when they leave school. The majority of teenagers pick their best subjects and rush into college, not aware of the opportunity’s apprenticeships can give you. This job was an eye opener for me, I never realised that I was able to work/earn and gain experience, whilst achieving college qualifications at the same time!
Coming straight from a classroom to working in financial services was difficult, I was never really taught about pensions, mortgages, investments, bills, etc… I found that the school environment was a lot different to the working environment and I struggled to adapt to the new settings at first. Work meant longer days, shorter holidays, bigger responsibilities and much more pressure. Moreover, I had never really dealt with the public before school and communicating with clients or other companies, is a big role in administration. For the first few months of my apprenticeship, I would fear picking up the phone although now it is something, I do every day, without thinking twice about it.
I feel like I have achieved so much since I first started CCFPS (one year ago) and I have gained confidence in a wide range of areas that I didn’t think I would, however I also feel like I have a huge gap for improvement, and I am not quite near where I want to be. I feel like my knowledge within financial services is still very scarce which is why I am completing my CF1 which will hopefully help me progress and I am excited for what the future might hold.”
