Charlotte Ewens, a team leader from Bournemouth, found that Damar’s level 5 operations manager apprenticeship “strengthened her skills and helped her progress” within her role at Aqua Care.
Taking the first step to progress
Charlotte has worked at Aqua Care, a water hygiene company, for just over seven years. In that time she has progressed from a temporary administrator to a team leader, but the dream has always been to manage a department.
Confident in her managerial ability but lacking the qualifications to validate her skills, Charlotte went to the business appointment team to ask what learning and development courses were available to her.
“I think it’s uncommon for people to take the first step. Usually, the team offer apprenticeships or courses that help progression to a whole department, and a few people decide to take that offer. For me, I knew I wanted to learn more.
“After I was told what courses I could access, I went to my general manager and asked which would help with my personal development at Aqua Care. It was then that we decided the management apprenticeship with Damar would have the biggest benefit to my portfolio and my team here.”
The impact of an apprenticeship
The apprenticeship has helped Charlotte to strengthen her skills and learn more about managing a team.
Speaking of her experience, Charlotte said: “I loved the apprenticeship and my Damar coach, Julie, was so helpful. Throughout the course, my existing manager skills were highlighted – like leadership and strong communication skills – which made me realise I made the right decision to invest in a career in this role. It has also made other people in the business take me and my skills more seriously – they all know I’m determined to develop and progress in my career now.”
Charlotte is urging anyone in a similar situation as her to “do it”. She said: “If you want to take the next step in your career and you feel motivated about investing in yourself, you have to do it.
“Carve out the time and get your team involved, let them know what you’re doing. This stopped me from getting manager guilt – that feeling of not being in front of your team – which definitely helped me stay focused.”
Finding the right path
The experience of doing the apprenticeship was very different to Charlotte’s first experience of studying at a further education level. After leaving sixth form, Charlotte went to Southampton University to study fashion promotion and communication.
“I went to university because that’s what I thought I should be doing. In my sixth form, it was really encouraged – the school took us on university open days and gave us time to write our personal statements and apply. We were only really told about practical apprenticeships in bricklaying and electrical installation, so I didn’t think of it as an option for me.
“I regret going to university. Not only was it expensive, but the course wasn’t what I imagined and it was in a field that couldn’t be further from what I’m doing now. It’s so hard to know what you want to do at the age of 17 and 18.
“If I could go back in time, I would look into other options. It’s just a shame that it’s not explored more by the teachers at school.”
Looking into the future Charlotte hopes the additional qualification awarded by Damar will help her to become an operations manager at Aqua Care, or a Departmental Manager at Pennon Group, the wider company.
Interested in our management apprenticeship programme?
If you want to find out more about our level 3 team leader or level 5 operations manager apprenticeship, please take a look at our management apprenticeships webpage.