Laura Seymour: Business Administration Apprentice

Laura has been with the University since September 2011, completing her Level 2 and Level 3 NVQ in Business and Administration. Her apprenticeship is based in Human Resources, working as Secretary to the Business Services Manager. 

The Apprentice of the Year

During her time at the University, Laura won the 'Apprentice of the Year' award, nominated by her manager Debbie Grainger in 2012.

Best option

Prior to starting her apprenticeship, Laura was at sixth form college studying Psychology, Sociology and Theatre Studies, but did not have a career plan in mind. Following some research, Laura felt that an apprenticeship would be the best option after sixth form, as she liked the fact she could learn on the job and gain experience whilst earning money.

She applied to complete an apprenticeship with The University of Liverpool, due to its exceptional reputation for treating their staff well. Working for an organisation providing an excellent range of career progression opportunities was also an appealing characteristic for Laura.

Throughout Laura’s apprenticeship, she has undertaken a lot of one-to-one training with her line manager, as well as group sessions with her team. This has enabled her to practice and develop valuable secretarial and customer service skills.

Qualifications and skills

Laura’s day-to-day tasks consist of using Outlook to create and send emails, as well as managing diaries for senior managers. Another aspect of her job role is to process invoices using the University Agresso system, processing CRB applications and helping her team to meet deadlines.

Based upon her knowledge of the job role, Laura decided that the most beneficial NVQ elements for her would be ‘Minute Taking’, ‘Word Processing Software’, ‘Using a Diary System’ and ‘Bespoke Software’.

Laura is now coming up to the end of her apprenticeship and has fully completed the NVQ Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications involved. She says: “I have gained a lot more experience than I thought I would!”

Laura has aspirations to increase her skills further with the aim of progressing her career into a more senior role at The University. She believes this will be helped by the skills she has gained using University software such as Tulip, Jasper and Agresso, which are vital skills to have when applying for internal jobs.

Laura really enjoys the teamwork involved in her role, saying: “My colleagues have always been there to give guidance, support and advice."

An additional perk of Laura’s job is the customer satisfaction she gains when providing an excellent service to clients.

The apprenticeship scheme provided Laura with many challenges, encouraging her to undertake new tasks such as managing a diary system and prioritising responsibilities.

Furthering her career

Laura has now decided that she would like to pursue a clerical career, beginning with her new job as Personal Assistant to the Director of Student Recruitment and Admissions. She is looking forward to this demanding role and being able to support an important function of the University.

An apprenticeship scheme is something Laura would definitely recommend to other young people, due to the quality of experience gained for the future. She says: “It’s a great opportunity to learn new skills whilst receiving great support and being paid!

“Completing my apprenticeship with The University of Liverpool has really helped me to gain confidence in myself and in the workplace. I have really enjoyed my time in Human Resources and I am thankful for working with such a great team who have helped to support me along the way."