Why should I do an apprenticeship?
By Natasha Masters
Completed Recruitment Level 3 and Business Admin Level 3
What inspired you to choose an apprenticeship as your career path?
I’ve completed two apprenticeships while working at Pertemps, which has really shaped my career path. I joined the team at 18 as a receptionist, where I finished my Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship. That role helped me build strong communication and organisational skills and gave me a real insight into how a busy recruitment office works.
As I gained more experience, I realised I wanted to be more involved in the recruitment side of the business, which led me to complete my Level 3 Recruiter apprenticeship. This also included finishing my REC exam, which helped strengthen my industry knowledge and confidence.
Overall, apprenticeships have allowed me to learn on the job, grow within the company and build a career in recruitment, rather than just a role. I always knew that the traditional university route wouldn’t be for me. I wanted to get stuck into the real working world and an apprenticeship was the perfect route to go down.
What skills or knowledge have you gained that you use in your job every day?
I’ve gained a lot of practical skills, especially communication and relationship building. I speak with candidates and clients regularly, so being able to listen, ask the right questions and build trust is really important. From my business administration apprenticeship, I developed strong organisational and time-management skills, which help me juggle multiple roles, interviews and deadlines. Through my recruiter apprenticeship and REC exam, I’ve also developed a solid understanding of recruitment legislation, compliance and best practice, which I use to make sure processes are followed correctly. The combination of real-life experience and formal training has helped me become more confident and efficient in my role.
How did you balance learning alongside your job?
This was definitely challenging at times, but it helped me become more organised and disciplined. I planned my time carefully, setting aside specific slots for coursework and revision around my working hours. I was able to apply what I was learning straight away in my role, which made it easier to understand and remember.
I also made sure to communicate with my manager and assessor regularly so I could manage deadlines alongside workload. Over time, it became part of my routine, and it really helped me develop strong time management skills. Pertemps has a great training and development team who were always on hand if I needed any support and I am extremely lucky to have a great manager who encourages development and always helped me put my learning into real life scenarios.
How have the apprenticeships helped you grow personally or professionally?
Professionally, they’ve given me the skills, knowledge and confidence to take on responsibilities in recruitment that I wouldn’t have had otherwise, from managing candidates and clients, to understanding compliance and best practice.
Personally, it has taught me discipline, resilience and the importance of continuous learning. Completing two apprenticeships while working full time has shown me that I can set goals, work hard and achieve them. This has really boosted my confidence and ambition for the future.
Pertemps really advocates for its employees to be able to access high-quality learning options and I know if I wanted to explore further learning routes, they would always point me in the right direction. I am always open to learning new things!
