I’m 19 and before I came to Islington Council I worked in a showroom for Tommy Hilfiger. I dealt with customers every day and made sure they were well looked after while they were in the showroom and deciding on what to buy. I’m now enrolled on the Business Administration Level 2 course. 

At Islington I work in the Financial Operations and Customer Services team. When I’m in the office I deal with admin such as post and letters. I also take payments from clients over the phone – this is something I really enjoy. 

The most challenging part of my apprenticeship is when I’m not sure on what to say to a client, but my colleagues are there to support me and provide guidance on how to deal with these situations, which has been really helped. I am becoming more familiar with how to manage each query now. My manager has helped me build my confidence and has provided a variety of tasks so that I gain more experience.  

I started my apprenticeship during the pandemic. It was weird starting a job where I couldn’t meet everyone in my team in person. However, my team helped me settle in well by letting me know they were there for me if I ever needed help from them.  

If I were to give advice to anyone thinking about doing an apprenticeship, I would say that it’s important to show you are keen to learn new things and want to do well in the role. If you are an employer considering hiring an apprentice, my advice would be to not assume the person with the most experience is the best person for the job. It’s good to recruit someone who wants to be a part of the team and is willing to do their absolute best to complete jobs to a high standard.  

This apprenticeship has helped me gain confidence in myself and has allowed me to complete tasks that I never would have thought I was able to do.