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Balancing budgets to team management: How apprenticeships provide in-depth knowledge for the workplace

Sian Jobson, who has completed two apprenticeships with Apprenticeships+, tells us about the challenges and highlights of completing the Level 3 and Level 4 Facilities Management apprenticeships.

Sian Jobson is an Estate Services Manager with CBRE, a global leader in commercial real estate services and investment. She has completed both the Facilities Management – Level 3 Apprenticeship and the Facilities Manager – Level 4 Apprenticeship with Apprenticeships+ (previously known as Capital City College Training). We spoke to her about her experience of completing two apprenticeships while working in a full-time role.

Balancing budgets to team management: How apprenticeships provide in-depth knowledge for the workplace

What work experience did you have before taking on the apprenticeships with Apprenticeships+?

At school, I did my GCSEs and then I completed training to become a Childcare Practitioner – but that wasn’t for me. After sixth form, I went straight into work. I worked at a supermarket on the checkouts and then got promoted to Administration Manager. I went on to work for Jaguar Building Services, where I was the administrator for multiple sites. From there, I moved over to the client side and joined CBRE as a Facilities Coordinator around six years ago. I did the Level 3 Apprenticeship and was promoted to Estate Services Manager about a year ago while I was completing my Level 4 Apprenticeship.

How long did the courses take you?

The Level 3 Apprenticeship took me two years. It took longer because I had a baby and also because I had to resit my Maths and English. I managed to complete the Level 4 Apprenticeship in about a year and a half – it was a different experience for me and I found it a lot easier.

Why did you choose to do an apprenticeship?

When I joined CBRE, I was very new to the industry and wanted to gain as much knowledge as I possibly could. So I signed up to do the Facilities Management – Level 3 Apprenticeship, and then it made sense to do the Facilities Manager – Level 4 Apprenticeship to add more of an insight. The Level 4 Apprenticeship went into more depth and was really helpful in enabling me to understand certain aspects of my current role.

I chose an apprenticeship rather than a college course because, for me, it’s better to learn something while doing the job it applies to. I have to be doing it to understand it, and going to college every day is not something I’d enjoy.

What did you like most about your apprenticeship courses?

The courses were really good. For the Level 3 course we did project work and an exam whereas for the Level 4 course, I had projects and a presentation followed by a professional discussion. I preferred the Level 4 apprenticeship because it didn’t involve any  exams and I don’t feel that I perform well in exams. I don’t mind writing assignments, in fact, I’d say I quite enjoyed researching the different areas and learning about all the different theories – it’s good knowledge to have.

The support from the tutor in my Level 4 course was really good. I could ask him any questions I had and when I showed him my work, he would give helpful feedback. He’d point out where I’d explained something clearly and answered the questions well and also suggested ways to make it better, so I enjoyed having the support.

What did you find challenging about the course?

There’s a lot of work to do and it involves a lot of writing. You’ve got 10 assignments, 10 projects, an 8000 word report followed by a presentation and then there’s an end point discussion. My employer was really good. I got one day a week at home to do my work, and that’s one of the reasons why I was able to complete the course early.

How did you manage the workload?

It is a lot to do on top of a full time job. Being a parent, doing it outside of work just didn’t work for me, so we managed it by having me study at home one day a week. My manager and I had an agreement that, once I was at home, I was studying. With an apprenticeship, you’re supposed to get eight hours of study time from your employer, but it doesn’t always work out like that, especially if you’re busy. 

When I was studying, I would put my out-of-office on and turn off my work-related apps like Teams so that I was just concentrating on what I had to do. I made sure that I planned what I wanted to achieve before the end of each study day. I also managed my calendar better and made sure that I put enough time in my diary to complete each piece of work before it was due – just in case I had to make any changes. 

What was the highlight of your course?

The highlight was finding out at the end that I’d got a Distinction. I’d got a Pass for the Level 3 Apprenticeship, so that was what I was expecting – but the hard work obviously paid off. I was really happy about that and I got to feel proud of what I’d achieved.

How has your course been relevant to your current role?

Learning about budgets has definitely helped me. Before I did the course, I had no understanding of how a budget should work and had never written one before. Doing the budget assignment was really useful as I found out about things like cost variances and reconciliations and I learned how to make a budget work.

Also, the theories we studied around setting goals, SMART objectives and managing people have also been helpful – especially when you’re trying to support other people. Some of it applies to my current role, some of it is just good to know in case I need it and some might come in useful if I go higher up.

How did you find learning remotely?

It was good, we got a lot of information and I preferred it to sitting in a classroom. When I completed the Level 3 course, I joined the course online and we’d go through the assignments question by question and the tutors would tell you what you needed to include. They’d also present the different theories with PowerPoint presentations and after each session you’d get the PowerPoint and the assignment, so you had a good idea of what you needed to research.

We did the same with Level 4, but I was ahead so I was able to do the assignments by myself. If I needed my tutor’s help, he was available straight away and we had catch ups every so often, which my manager would also join. I preferred to just get on with it and ask questions if I had them.

What’s your advice for anyone thinking about an apprenticeship?

It’s not as hard as you might think, you just need to get your head down and do it. If you get stuck, you can always ask your tutor. They’re there to help if you have questions about the assignments and are really helpful. The apprenticeship is a good qualification to have, as long as you get the support from your workplace – being able to put aside a day for studying definitely helps. It’s also important to stick to the timelines and make sure you’re getting there, because it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the workload and that’s never fun.

What’s next for you?

I’m not sure. I think the next step at my current workplace would be to become a Senior Facilities Manager, but that might not be possible for a while. For now, I’m going to sit back and enjoy being comfortable. Level 5 might be on the cards, but I’ll have to think about it and see if I’ve got the patience for it.

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