I heard about Prostart whilst employed at Nottingham City Council. An all-colleague email was sent regarding a coaching apprenticeship that was due to commence. It advised colleagues to make contact if they were considering further personal development. I therefore contacted the team to look at a management apprenticeship which I thought would enable me to further enhance my career having worked within HR for 20 years.

Having worked for 20 years at NCC, I was committed to developing my future career and I recognised that the area that was potentially holding me back was that I have very little management experience. I had been content in my previous roles whilst my children were young and I needed to work part time to support them. They were at an age where they were more independent and I felt it was the right time for me to think about my future career aspirations and what I needed to do to get there. I have managed to successful develop my skills and knowledge in an area where I needed to professionally develop. The programme was clear from the outset and flexible in terms of work required for each of the modules. There was additional resources provided if required in terms of suggested reading material.

The Tutors were very supportive throughout the programme. After commencing the programme, I had a life changing experience outside of work which impacted on my mental wellbeing. Despite this Tracy was fantastic support for me, offering guidance and also checking in on my wellbeing. We tackled each part of the programme in turn, and this helped me to achieve in a shorter timeframe. I was clear of the support that could be put in place for me should I have needed it. When my EPA was due I was put I touch with a peer outside the authority who was in the same position and this really helped in terms of working together to prepare ourselves and even running through out presentations. I would fully recommend my peers to undertake an Apprenticeship to help advance their career aspirations. You are equipped with the knowledge to then implement in the workplace with opportunities offered to enable you to see them in action.  As part of my apprenticeship, I was required to complete an end project and although there were discussions about potential projects a role came up as an internal development opportunity for a Senior HR Consultant working on a project for a 12-month period. I was successful through interview and secured this post. I remain in this post until the end of July. However, I have now secured the position of HR Business Lead so working as part of the HR leadership group. This is a massive step for me in terms of my career and I feel that my apprenticeship has given me knowledge and skills that I will be able to utilise in this role to develop myself as a manager. I feel that the apprenticeship has enabled me to fulfil my career aspirations with two promotions in the last year.