Business Start Up Manager Review

When I started my apprenticeship I was a project officer at Optivo but by actively undertaking an apprenticeship with Paragon and the Institute of Leadership and Management I was able to secure a management role with my currently employer RIFT Social Enterprise. I lead a team of Business Start Up Advisors to support the long term unemployed, those who have been through the criminal justice system and those who may not be suitable for traditional employment to start businesses. I make up 1/3 of our Senior Leadership Team and have responsibilities including line managing my own team, writing strategy papers, reporting into our board on performance, heading up new projects and ensuring that the BSU function of our organisation is running as it should be.

I had no management experience before undertaking my apprenticeship, but I always knew as part of my career progression that a leadership role would be the next step up for me. I learned a lot about people management, project management and management of self that has really helped me on my journey as a new manager.

I really enjoyed my experience with being an apprentice. I started my career as a Business Admin apprentice back in 2017 and then to take on more advance apprenticeship to further my career has been a great experience. I experience a blended learning approach due to Covid, but it worked well and I achieved an overall distinction.

It was well organised and I felt very supported throughout. As mentioned, my apprenticeship was during Covid, so I had a mix of face to face support from my tutor, workshops and then zoom calls and online webinars for the learning sessions. I was able to complete my apprenticeship within my new role and this was a seamless transition too.

Within Optivo we were allocated 20% of our working time towards our apprenticeship which was really useful for getting coursework and learning modules on BUD done. We had regular workshops hosted by Optivo for the co-hort enrolled onto the apprenticeship so I felt like we had lots of support from them

My assessor at Paragon, [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions], was absolutely fantastic. After my first assessor went off on maternity leave and Covid hit, there was a bit of gap between me having an assessor. I was worried about the impact this would have, given the timescales I needed to get my work done in. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] was super supportive throughout, kept me on track and motivated the whole time - even when I wanted to give up.

My qualification has helped me land my dream job. I've gone from Officer to Senior Manager and although you can't learn everything from a textbook, having completed my apprenticeship has certainly helped me in real life situations managing a team, projects and myself. Its been really helpful to my development and confidence too.

There are not. My current role is home based, and the team are spread all over the UK. However, we do have a very strong culture and have weekly "non-work" catch ups so we can bond as a team and this involves fun remote activities over Teams or Zoom and works well.

Yes

I was at Optivo for 6 year, over 3 roles and it was a great experience. They are a huge organisation that has a real family feel. I only left due to there being no room for career progression, which was really important to me. There was no point in me completing a qualification, but not being able to use it.

Research their CORE values and what they stand for. Give the hiring manager a call about the role ahead of applying to see if you'd be a good fit. When looking for a job, its as much about you wanting to be a part of their organisation as it is them wanting you to work for them.