Eleanor from Computacenter says 'you are in charge of your own development'

17 Mar 2016 03:21 PM

techUK continues to support National Apprenticeship Week by featuring Eleanor Stone at Computacenter who has recently completed her apprenticeship. 

This week, techUK will be supporting National Apprenticeship Week with a number of featured apprentices from our member organisations and guest blogs.

In our penultimate apprenticeship feature, we meet Eleanor Stone who has recently finished her apprenticeship at Computacenter and continued her career there. 

My name is Eleanor Stone, I am 19 and employed by Computacenter (CC) as a TRG Project Scheduler. My introduction to CC was as a Business & Admin apprentice and I am passionate about the apprenticeship programme. I chose the apprenticeship route because I wanted to be challenged more and experience something new and different to the school environment. I was still keen to learn though, so an apprenticeship gave me the perfect balance of both.

After months of searching for the apprenticeship and company that was right for me, I was delighted to be offered a position with Computacenter. When I started in September 2014, my role was in the Central Operations Admin Team (COAT) as an admin assistant. For this role, I took on a number of tasks which had a direct impact on the department’s efficiency and bottom-line, including; cross-charging and investigating incorrect charges, running and maintaining a training programme for the sales teams; as well as supporting the team with a number of regular reporting responsibilities. During my apprenticeship and time in the COAT team, I completed two secondments in different business areas.

• My first secondment was in Scheduling for three weeks. I found my work in the COAT and Scheduling to be closely related which allowed me to adapt the work between the two to achieve a high standard.
• My second secondment was in the Security Vetting Unit where I quickly learnt important transferable skills for dealing with highly sensitive information.

I learnt a great deal through my apprenticeship but the two things that I believe are key, not only to my time in the apprenticeship programme but as something I will continue to value and build on as my career progresses, can be summed up in one sentence:

You are in charge of your own development:

• It is important to view an apprenticeship as an opportunity and not just a qualification. I used my time as an apprentice to put myself out there and put my hand up to take on things outside of my comfort zone. It really demonstrated to my colleagues my thirst for knowledge as well as a commitment and drive to stay with the company.
• Following on from that, the network of people you create is invaluable, especially when working for such a large company. Because I made myself visible, putting my hand up, I started to build a network of support and knowledge outside of that which I could gain from my immediate team. My network allowed me to further outreach in CC, which has ultimately led me to where I am now and will definitely help brighten my future prospects within CC.

Before my apprenticeship and employment at Computacenter, I was very set on one particular career path. However since starting my journey at CC, my eyes have been opened to a vast number of career options that I was unaware existed. So for now, I am taking my time and looking into a number of business areas that I feel would be a good fit for me and the skills I have to offer. During this research time, I am continuing to develop myself as a person as well as encouraging others, by attending careers fairs and promoting our apprenticeship programme to young people.