Become an apprentice

Sohail took an APM apprenticeship after deciding a law degree wasn’t for him after two years of studying at university.

“The project management [apprenticeship] appealed to me kind of straight off. I've always wanted to get into a management and leadership role.” The application process took several months to complete, but Sohail was successful and started the course at 21.

“You kind of subconsciously pick up so much stuff while you’re working, your skills are developing every day…It's a role where your improvement and your development never ends. Every day is a new challenge, and every week there's something else that you've learned that you can apply to different projects. I like how much it can keep you on your toes. There's never a dull day, which is always good because I like to be busy.”

Sohail loves the challenges that project management throws his way. It never allows you to be complacent, he says. “It's a role where your improvement and your development never ends. Every day is a new challenge, and every week there's something else that you've learned that you can apply to different projects. I like how much it can keep you on your toes. There's never a dull day, which is always good because I like to be busy.”

Advice for aspiring apprentices:

“If could go back with the belief I have now, I would have embraced the scheme a lot more in the first six months, when I probably spent a lot of it kind of doubting myself. But the knowledge and the confidence does come with time. I think the biggest piece of advice I have for any new apprentice is to remember that you're there for a reason. You've won a place on that scheme because you have got the competencies and the capabilities to become a project manager. Be resilient or remind yourself that you one day you'll walk in and things will start to make sense – that is a good feeling.”

After completing her A levels, Georgia felt like she couldn’t go on to university and pursued an apprenticeship at Direct Line Group. She was placed in the project management office (PMO), to help her get a better understanding of what a project is and how they are set up.

Her first project was for Direct Line’s rescue and breakdown teams; she spent a lot of time working with various stakeholders to build a picture of what the process should look like, ensuring that it aligned with the new operating model.

“It was really interesting…The key learning for me was to understand that as a project manager, I’m not expected to know everything. When I went in on that first project, I was worried because I didn’t know what anyone was talking about. But it helped me to think about the right questions to ask so I could learn new things and get all the information that I need.”

“I captured my own lessons learned afterwards,” she explains. “More like personal lessons, rather than a project one. Then you automatically apply those experiences without thinking about them. It’s a bit like when you’re little and you touch a hot pan – you’re not going to do it again.”

Georgia loves the work she does as a qualified project manager. Particularly, the fact that she gets to work with so many different people across the company, and the fact that she is delivering genuine change. “You feel like you’ve really got somewhere when you’ve started from nothing, basically. You’ve delivered this really great thing that hopefully people really like and it’s benefiting the business. It’s very satisfying.”

Advice for aspiring apprentices:

Don’t be nervous or worried about knowing everything and remember to ask for help: “When you’re an apprentice, everyone wants to see you succeed and do your best.” Read her three golden rules for managing your first project here.

Luca had always been passionate about business and management at school but was reluctant to go to university.

The placement was an APM project management apprenticeship at Direct Line. “It was the variety of projects and opportunities that you could get at Direct Line Group, and the fact that I’d still be sticking to my roots in that it was a very business-focused role,” he says.

“You’re hit with a lot of information on your apprenticeship,” he continues. “You’re trying to learn through APM while trying to understand the context of automation…by speaking to everyone you’re working with, you can pick up an awful lot.”

He started off supporting other project managers in the organisation, until he was ready to take on his own project. “It gave me the freedom to learn and work at the same time....You’re learning on the job, you’re surrounded by experts – in university, you might have one or two professors, but you’ve got a company full of experts.”

Advice for aspiring apprentices:

1. Do your research: “The hardest thing about apprenticeships is finding the right one for you. You need to have some focus as to what you want to do.”
2. Take the lead: “You just have to prove that you can produce a quality output as well as anyone else. It’s just that initial trust barrier – you need to show them what you’re made of.”
3. Get as much support as possible: “I got an experienced public speaker to join my calls, and after the call, we’d talk about how I’d done, how I could improve and stuff like that. That was a great bit of support, because I was getting loads of constructive feedback that I could apply on the next call.”

Read Luca’s tips for passing the APM Project Management Qualification.