Apprentice Chloe McDaid

Hi I’m Chloe McDaid and in support of Learning at Work Week 2020 I wanted to share with you my experience as an apprentice and highlight the value apprenticeships can have on businesses and people.

I started my apprenticeship with In Professional Development in July 2019. I was fresh out of college and wasn’t overly clear on what my next step would be, I didn’t like the idea of going to University so began looking at apprenticeships and after applying for 6 I secured myself the Business Administration apprenticeship with In Professional Development. I had no experience of the business workplace and I was very keen to get into business and learn new skills and processes from the ground up. I was excited to get stuck in and start my professional career, so was thrilled when I saw that my week looked like this:

• Finance (credit control, invoicing, and supplier forms) – Monday and Tuesday
• Marketing (data cleansing, social listening, and learner feedback) – Wednesday and Thursday
• Operations (co-hosting, event organisation and digitalisation of feedback) – Friday

Since starting with InPD my confidence has come on in leaps and bounds, as has my knowledge. I have developed practical business skills that will support me in any role, and I’ve learnt how to apply them in a way that benefits both business and personal growth.

I’ve enhanced my technical and IT skills, I can confidently use excel for reporting and tracking purposes. I have basic knowledge around sophisticated systems like SAGE, so I can create new invoices and understand the process of setting up a new supplier on the system. And Eventsforce which I use to check registers, budgets and to find information out about delegates. I also built the skills needed to create certificates and joining instructions for our courses in another software.

Director, Jonathan Palmer had this to say “We recognise the value that apprentices and apprenticeship learning brings to organisations, Chloe has been an incremental part of the team and her work has support us to reach some new heights. She has worked seamlessly across all the departments, with much praise coming from our heads of and her colleagues. We’ve taken great pleasure in watching Chloe grow from a crossroad in her life into a confident business driven young lady. Good luck with your final assignments Chlo, thank you for all your hard work!”

My biggest achievement to date is being made responsible for opening up some of our events on my own. This shows me that INPD see me as responsible and competent to fulfil this job alone. Using this as a springboard, I have further developed my communication skills as I’m in constant contact with stakeholders at different levels, so I’ve learnt how to speak with them appropriately and handle tough situations. I see the value that all of my efforts bring and the praise I receive in my 1-2-1s just confirm what a great job I’m doing and how my work really helps support with business growth.

When I complete my apprenticeship, I will get a level 3 Business Administration certificate. As for my future I would like to carry on working with INPD and to carry on growing as a person. I would like to work in the role of operations and have more responsibility of being an events coordinator. This would be a huge achievement for me.

My apprenticeship was the best decision I ever made to do and I know that I am a valued member of the INPD family and if I was to give any advice to people looking to start an apprenticeship it would be get to know the people you work with, observe senior staff and their language, don’t be afraid to ask questions and enjoy your time learning new things as every experience sets you up for life.

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