Georgia is no stranger to learning having just completed an Integrated Masters degree in Maths & Computer Science at Leeds Beckett University.
After deciding employment in software development was probably not up her street, she set her sights on a career in HR.
And so a whole new chapter of learning begins as apple hr’s new apprentice embarks on her new career.
After obtaining your degree with distinction in maths and computer science, what made you decide to pursue a career in HR?
I’d just finished my third year of my four year course and I was working at Leeds Arena, but thought it was time to get a grown up job! Kate was advertising for an admin assistant to work 10 hours per week and I thought ‘I could do that!’. I applied and here I am! It was the perfect amount of time as I could fit the 10 hours around my last year of Uni.
At what point did you think it was really interesting and you could see yourself building a career in HR?
HR had always been at the back of my mind as something I’d quite enjoy. It didn’t take long – only a couple of months working at apple hr – when I thought, ‘I quite like it here!’
It’s different every day, there’s a lot to learn and work on and the team here are really lovely so that helps.
What have you enjoyed the most working at apple hr so far?
The atmosphere. We talk about company culture a lot. You have to practice what you preach. Everyone does everything they need to get done but we have a nice time doing it.
I’ve loved helping Janet with her mental health webinars on resilience. Mental health is one of the main topics I enjoy learning about. It’s so important.
What does a typical day look like?
There’s so much work for new contracts and new handbooks at the moment. Everyone is coming back to the workplace, so for the last month or so it’s been very focused on contracts and handbooks. I also enjoy doing the LinkedIn posts for the apple hr business.
And how did you decide on an apprenticeship with apple hr?
I had a review after 6 months with Kate and since I was getting ready to finish uni we started to talk about what would come next.
We discussed all the things I’d learned and where I wanted to be and she offered me the chance to stay and work here full time and become CIPD qualified, so I feel very lucky.
So how does the apprenticeship work?
20% of my working week has to be on a structured learning course.
All the training I do is online, it’s a Human Resource Management Level 3 course which should take 12-15 months to complete. But there’s also lots of on the job learning as well.
Every 5 weeks we cover a different topic and at the end, I have a professional discussion with my tutor. At the end of 15 weeks there’s some coursework to do. Because it’s government funded, I also get the added extra training of safeguarding and health and safety.
It’s all lovely though in comparison to studying for my degree. Nothing compares to a 20,000 word dissertation!
I’m excited about the training – not just because I’m gaining knowledge but also because it gives me the confidence that I know what I’m talking about.
What would you say to a business owner considering taking on an apprentice?
It’s never been more important to diversify the workplace. There’s no better way to get the opinions of the younger generation than to get them in. There’s a huge financial benefit to having apprenticeships and graduate schemes. You can train people exactly the way you want them to work.
What are your plans for the future – where would you like your future career to take you?
My ultimate career goal is…to be Kate! I’d quite like to be an HR Manager or Consultant. I’ve found that HR is something I want to pursue. I’m not the sort of person that could just sit behind a desk and do the same things everyday. We get such a variety of things to work on, it really keeps it interesting. HR is about people and people are constantly changing, the world is constantly changing and you have to change with that.