#WorkInPublishing Week - Alyiah’s story
It has now been eight months since we launched Traineeships by LDN!
Our traineeship programme is designed to help young people on their journey to securing work or an apprenticeship. Trainees develop key employability skills during a work experience placement with a variety of awesome companies LDN work with across London.
Want to find out how a traineeship works? Check out this handy video guide!
Since launching, over 75% of completed learners have had a positive outcome including 50% who have attended a LDN Career Kickstarter!
One in five trainees who attended a Career Kickstarter event have successfully secured a Level 3 apprenticeship with LDN – including Business Administrator apprentice and former trainee, Aliyah Wilson!
Aliyah Wilson - Business Administrator Apprentice
Aliyah recently landed a role at publishing house Faber and Faber as a Factory Assistant. Within her role, Aliyah will educate publishers about eBooks and around the eBook market as well as metadata management.
We caught up with Alyiah to talk about her time as a trainee with LDN Apprenticeships as well as her brand-new role with Faber and Faber.
“I chose to be a Trainee with LDN because of the amazing and unique opportunities available.” said Alyiah.
“I didn't know what job within publishing I wanted, and so, a Business Admin role was the perfect opportunity for me to gain experience whilst also learning a lot of key skills that are applicable across multiple jobs within the industry.”
LDN Traineeship Careers Coach, Ali Cairns, runs weekly employability workshops with all LDN Trainees as part of their traineeship, which covers topics such as CV writing, LinkedIn profiles, and interview techniques.
Reflecting on her time as a Trainee, Aliyah described how the employability workshops she attended with her Careers Coach helped to secure her dream role.
“LDN’s workshops helped me grow a lot as a person and receive the support I needed to grow in a job I love.
LDN was and is very supportive of me throughout the Traineeship and so far in my apprenticeship, making me feel comfortable to reach out if I need to.”
Additionally, throughout the eight-week programme, Ali hosts 1-2-1 coaching sessions to help trainees overcome any obstacles that may be preventing them from securing a job.
“When Aliyah started the traineeship, she was very nervous and took some time to come out of her shell. In live sessions, she was quite quiet but as the weeks progressed, she started to shine and contribute to each session.
I saw her confidence grow with each 1-2-1 we completed.”
Aliyah’s line manager and Production Director at Faber, Judith Gates gave us an insight into the key reasoning behind hiring Aliyah as their very first apprentice with LDN.
“Aliyah seemed keen on getting new experience and in the interview process she came across as friendly, a hard worker, and someone who could help to support the team.”
“It's really nice to break the mould of only recruiting staff who have been to university, it's a wide pool of talent and Lili fits in so well.” Said Judith
“I was over the moon to hear that Aliyah had been offered the job as I knew she would put her heart and soul into the role.” Added Ali.
Since starting an apprenticeship at LDN, what advice would Aliyah give to someone who’s thinking of starting a traineeship or apprenticeship?
“It's not going to be easy but it's definitely, definitely worth it. Balancing apprenticeship work, as well as your job, is difficult, but it is extremely gratifying!
Meeting new people has been one of my favourite parts of being a trainee and apprentice, and I would encourage you to do the same.”
Aliyah and the awesome team at Faber and Faber are a brilliant example of how a traineeship can prepare young people for the world of work and we’re thrilled to celebrate their success with this case study.