Case Studies

“The reason I decided to do an apprenticeship in the first place was not only to get a qualification but also get some work and experience. I thought that would benefit me a lot more than it would just getting a qualification or vice versa.

 

I considered university but after weighing up the pros and cons, it felt like the pros didn’t heavily outweigh what I thought would be beneficial to me within my career.”

After Toby’s mind was made up, he attended our Career Kickstarter event which is where he met with the good people at Sphonic, including Michael, who explained how hiring an apprentice is part of the company’s growth plan.

 “We’re constantly expanding the business and we’ve grown significantly over the last six years.

 

It’s very difficult to recruit for what we’re after, so we felt we were better placed to hire an apprentice who could come in, understand our business in all areas and show us where they are strongest, so they can take on the position we’re after.”

Since starting at Sphonic, Toby has come on leaps and bounds not only within his digital skill set, but also his personal skills and especially his confidence, something Toby highlights as his biggest achievement since starting at Sphonic.

“I’d have to say my personal biggest achievement is the improvement in my confidence!

 

When I first started I had no self confidence and no real belief in what I did, so I was always second guessing. Now I’m at the point where I don’t have to second guess. I know what I’m doing is the right thing.”

Michael completely agreed when talking about Toby’s improvements since starting his apprenticeship.

Toby’s reasoning behind starting an apprenticeship with LDN apprenticeships was so he could learn and gain experience in the workplace at the same time. So how has he transferred what he learnt out our Lansdowne Learning Centre into his role at Sphonic?

“Learning to balance the workload has been a beneficial learning curve. My work ethic has always been high but knowing how to take advantage of less busier periods within the work place is a huge part of what I’ve learnt. 

 

Don’t rush it, make sure it’s a good standard and if you haven’t got work, ask for some!”

Michael and the team at Sphonic have benefited massively from hiring Toby and has helped them save hours of time and money with the work they’ve given him and the tasks he has learnt.

Toby’s reasoning behind starting an apprenticeship with LDN apprenticeships was so he could learn and gain experience in the workplace at the same time. So how has he transferred what he learnt out our Lansdowne Learning Centre into his role at Sphonic?

“Learning to balance the workload has been a beneficial learning curve. My work ethic has always been high but knowing how to take advantage of less busier periods within the work place is a huge part of what I’ve learnt. 

  

Don’t rush it, make sure it’s a good standard and if you haven’t got work, ask for some!”

Michael and the team at Sphonic have benefited massively from hiring Toby and has helped them save hours of time and money with the work they’ve given him and the tasks he has learnt.

“Because we work with over 70 vendors within our business, that’s an awful lot of APIs and data. Understanding that data is key to our business and what we deliver to our clients.

 

What we did was provide Toby with the API documentation to strip the data out of it. From this his understanding grows and his subject matter knowledge grows as well.

 

With that he’s saved me a lot of time of having to extract the data myself and I could then focus more on the integrations with our clients.

 

That sort of skill set is expensive to hire directly. When you get someone who is as eager and willing to learn as Toby is it’s absolutely fantastic for the business.”

So after the success of his time as an apprentice, what would Toby say to anyone who’s thinking of doing an apprenticeship?

“I’d say go for it!

 

See what matches your skill set and your passion, then once you’ve found a career path, whether that’s IT or Web Development or one that fits for you, dedicate yourself to it and the reward is there for you at the end.”

Michael has had experience of hiring a few apprentices with LDN Apprenticeships now and has valuable knowledge and insight into what to expect when recruiting one.

The ability to harness new talent and tap into a pool of talent he wouldn’t be able to in other routes of recruitment have hugely benefited not only him as a manager, but the business as a whole.

“I’d definitely suggest to any business to hire an apprentice.

 

As long as you have the resources and ability to teach and train them like any new recruit. You know you’re going to get an endless amount of positivity back.

 

To begin with, they’re keen, eager and they’ll probably out do you in a lot of areas!

 

But with the ones we have hired, they always come back and give you ideas, which I think is fantastic!”

Toby and his awesome team at Sphonic are a brilliant example of how apprenticeships work for businesses and for young people. We’re thrilled to celebrate their success with this case study.

Congratulations Toby, and thank you to Michael for all of the support he has given to Toby.

If you’re thinking of BECOMING an apprentice, click on the link below and find out how!

Ayo recently completed her Web & Software Development apprenticeship with Tech LDN (formerly Tech City Stars), so we popped into the Wazoku offices, a stone’s throw away from London Bridge, to catch up with Ayo and her team to talk about her time at Wazoku and being an apprentice.

We started at the beginning as Ayo talked about her decision to take up an apprenticeship and the choices she had beforehand.

“When I started looking for an apprenticeship I knew I had no experience in IT whatsoever. I didn’t want to go to university and have no clue what I’m doing, so I chose an apprenticeship because it gave me the opportunity to learn and earn at the same time.

I had considered university, but I thought it might be a bit overwhelming to me and I’m a practical learner, so if I gave myself the opportunity to be in an environment where I had no choice but to learn, I would learn more.”

Having made the decision to do an apprenticeship, it was now all about getting hired!

Miguel Palomino is the Product Manager and Rosemarie Diegnan is the Chief Strategy and Product Officer at Wazoku; both of whom work directly with Ayo within her role at the company. 

Rosemarie has hired a few apprentices from LDN Apprenticeships and Ayo was someone who stood out straight away when she was interviewed.

“She just seemed really excited about being part of the QA team and seemed to be something she really wanted to do. So I liked her enthusiasm and her experience, so we hired her!

The best thing about hiring an apprentice is they’re enthusiastic because they’re at the start of their careers. They want to learn and they want to jump in. They want to have new opportunities and we are a small business and more than happy to have smart and ambitious individuals come in a get started.”

Miguel is Ayo’s line manager and works with her on a daily basis and mentioned how hiring apprentices is helping with the growth of Wazoku.

“We have the experiences of other apprentices before Ayo and we have had very successful experiences with other apprentices from LDN Apprentices.  

The company is growing, so we continued searching for QA’s through Tech LDN. They are always happy to learn and we are happy to have them within the business.”

This help and support from her team reaped benefits and Ayo went on to explain her biggest achievement during her apprenticeship at Wazoku.

“I started working with SSO when I started and I was a bit lost. But since then, I managed to put together a document that is now used throughout the company and is also part of the onboarding process for any new starter who joins the company!”

It’s not just Ayo that has seen herself improve during her apprenticeship.

Rosemarie has seen her come on leaps and bounds, not only on a personal level, but her skills to do the role as well. 

“She’s become much more confident. She has learnt our product as well as the ability to test our product and find bugs.

She can stand up for hers elf if somebody says there isn’t a bug, which developers can sometimes do. She is willing to say ‘no, I can show you why this is a bug’. 

For most apprentices, this is their first real full-time job. So getting used to coming into work every day and being part of the team, I can see their confidence grow the more comfortable they are within the role.”

So after finishing her apprenticeship and now working at Wazoku full-time, what advice would Ayo give to anyone who’s thinking of starting an apprenticeship? 

“I’d say go for it! There’s no reason why you shouldn’t. You earn the money, you learn on the job and whilst it can be overwhelming at times, the overall end goals are completely worth it!”

Miguel was just as enthusiastic and passionate when talking about businesses taking on apprentices.

“Hiring an apprentice is a great opportunity for not only businesses but for young people as well. An apprentice will always bring a new point of view and it’s good to have a different sense of how other people work.”

Rosemarie agreed and having hired and worked with apprentices before, was in a unique position to provide insight into why hiring an apprentice is so beneficial to Wazoku and how other businesses can harness new talent through apprenticeships. 

“It’s an amazing opportunity for young people who want to get started and university isn’t necessarily the track they want to take. So hiring apprentices has given us a pool of really smart, interesting and exciting people.”

“In hiring an apprentice, it’s a great way to get new, young talent that’s looking to get started that’s intelligent and as capable as anyone coming out of uni.

They’ve just chosen a different path, so don’t be afraid of that.”

Ayo and her awesome team at Wazoku are a brilliant example of how apprenticeships work for business and for young people. We’re thrilled to celebrate their success with this case study.

Congratulations Ayo, and thank you to Miguel and Rosemarie for all of the support they’ve given to Ayo.  

If you’re thinking of BECOMING an apprentice, click on the link below and find out how!