Facilities Team apprenticeship case study: Dominic

• Team: Facilities Management
• After his apprenticeship: Dominic got a permanent job as a Commercial Administrator for Transport for London

Why did you want to do an apprenticeship at City Hall?

I knew that apprenticeships were a good way to enter and advance within a company after education. I never liked the idea of university, so they were something I was keen to do instead. I also knew that apprenticeships were entry level positions, where the emphasis was on learning on the job in addition to getting a qualification. This was really useful, as I had noticed the difficult situation where you couldn’t get experience without already having some experience. I wanted an apprenticeship because I saw it as the best way to start a career. I wanted to progress as young as possible, and I knew the distinction between having standard jobs and deciding on a career path.

How did you find out about the vacancy?

I asked my careers advisor in the job centre if she was aware of any apprenticeships. She referred me to a colleague who gave me a print out of the job advert and told me to apply. I could have easily missed it if I didn’t ask. In all honesty, I knew very little about City Hall and only gathered that it wasn’t a normal organisation when I was walking towards the building for the first assessment day. But I really liked the option to apply for different teams, as I didn’t have a clear sense of direction in terms of what I wanted to do at that point.

What were your day to day responsibilities as an apprentice?

As I expressed my interest early on, my manager and I were able to tailor my apprenticeship so that I finished with lots of experience in specialist areas, rather than just administration. Over the year I developed a basic foundation in security, contract management, procurement, health and safety and events management, which I would not have otherwise

What did you find most useful from your time as an apprentice?

The best thing about the apprenticeship was the ability to try out different roles and work with different people. By the end, I was a jack-of-all-trades because I’d worked with everyone in my team for a small time. I’d like to think it was also good for them to work with someone who genuinely found what they did interesting. City Hall is a great organisation, because despite its importance for London, it’s not weighed down by bureaucracy and politics. It’s a small organisation where everyone works together to achieve results. I gained the sense of direction I was originally looking for, as I came out wanting a career in Facilities Management.

What was the most inspiring that happened during your apprenticeship?

It’s an eventful place to work – there were rarely any moments when something interesting was not happening.

What were you doing before your apprenticeship?

After college I did volunteer work to build up my CV. I worked in a bar and a supermarket for a short time, but only for work experience.

What tips would you give to future applicants?

If you can I’d recommend you gain a small amount of experience before applying for apprenticeships. You need enough to help promote yourself at the assessment day, but not to the extent that you appear as if you know everything. Assessors won’t necessarily be looking for the very best, like a normal job, because you won’t know enough at that stage. Instead, they’ll be looking for the best person to develop, because it’s a big commitment and investment for the teams.