Lauren Harbron

Hydraulic and Offshore Supplies Limited in Sunderland.

Business Development Assistant.

I started as a Business Development Apprentice where my daily tasks consisted of answering general queries by email/telephone, greeting guests and making refreshments, maintaining the companies database, researching potential customers and diary management.

I completed my apprenticeship in June 2019 and was taken on full time. My job then became more diverse as I moved into other roles such sales and marketing where I was responsible for our social media accounts and set up quotations/orders to customers and suppliers with the help of my colleagues.

More recently it was decided I am going to focus more in sales, including taking enquiries through telephone/emails, sending the enquiries to our suppliers and creating quotations and orders along with paperwork trails.

The best part of my job is that being a small company, no two days are the same.

I started my time here in the role of business development, however have since gained experience in multiple job roles including sales and marketing. I have also had the chance to build new skills by attending networking events and exhibitions.

My apprenticeship allowed me to gain experience within the working industry as well as build new skills which can help me progress in my role and in the future. I was also able to gain my Business Administration Level 2 Diploma.

After I completed my GCSE’s I joined a sixth form where I had planned to complete my A-Levels, however after a month I realised that wasn’t the route I’d like to go down.

I started looking for other options and decided to start applying for apprenticeships. I knew this would help me build skills in industry which would make me more likely to be accepted for future jobs I applied for.

During my apprenticeship I was given an assessor who came out to my workplace once every other week and assigned me some work to complete.

I also attended Sunderland College, Bede Campus, every Friday where I was given a chance to complete the work given with other apprentices.

The best thing about my time at college was being able to speak to the other apprentices who were also working on getting their qualification.

The assessor and other apprentices were very welcoming and helped me out on any work I didn’t understand.

I’d definitely recommend studying an apprenticeship, I believe it was the best decision I made as it opened up a lot of other job opportunities as I had a qualification and working experience.

There is also a possibility of you being offered a job after your apprenticeship by the company who took you on as an apprentice.