Case Study: Elizabeth Clingan
Find out about how an apprenticeship helped Elizabeth to identify the perfect career for her future!
Introduction
Elizabeth Clingan is a health, safety and environmental technician apprentice with Jacobs – but she didn’t always know that that was the career she wanted to do after school.
Having secured a two-year apprenticeship, Elizabeth now understands that not having everything planned out was okay and not out of the ordinary.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t know what I wanted to do before or during school,” she said.
“All I knew was that I didn’t want to stay and do A Levels or any other further education, which is okay as school isn’t for everyone and the only best thing that suited me was an apprenticeship.”
Elizabeth's journey
The variety of learning involved in an apprenticeship has helped Elizabeth to engage with her employer and learn new knowledge, skills and behaviours.
Elizabeth said: “What I like most about my job is the support I have been receiving during my time with Jacobs; this has helped me to grow and become more confident.
“It also helps that there is a lot of variety within Jacobs as not every day is the same and it keeps you on your toes all the time, which I’m very fond of.”
Elizabeth credits Lakes College with helping her massively to decide on an apprenticeship as the right way forward in her career and then to support her in securing the perfect opportunity.
“I started off down the route of doing a T Level business course with the college but handing in my CV as an apprenticeship is what I was looking for,” she said.
“They pushed my CV to all different employers, which included the police, Thomas Armstrong and Jacobs that were looking for apprentices at the time.
“They have been great at communicating throughout the whole process; for example, they would contact me and ask you if you would like to go to this interview or that there is a place open.”
Elizabeth's advice
Elizabeth believes being willing to leave your comfort zone is key to making sure you find the right career – exploring different options and trying something you wouldn’t usually think of can open doors to opportunities you may not have expected.
“The one piece of advice that I would give is to be open and willing to welcome change,” she said.
“I did, as before I was willing to stick with the A Level route instead of college as I knew it would be the safer option but wouldn’t have made me happy.
“Therefore, I had to push myself to be out of my comfort zone and be open to change and don’t be afraid to do so.”
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