Life as a Housing Apprentice

Thomas Wilson decided to pick an apprenticeship rather than going to university, now he can look back with no regrets.

The 24-year-old allocations advisor said: “After completing Sixth Form College I didn’t know what to do, but after talking to a family friend about careers I contacted PM Training, I was 18 at the time.

“At the meeting with PM Training, they told me about apprenticeships at Aspire, through the ‘Aspire 2 Work’ programme. This was the first time I’d heard about office-based apprenticeships.

“I started my three-year housing apprenticeship in customer services, and then rotated between various teams in the housing department.

“I never considered working in housing before talking to PM Training but I really enjoyed it.

“In fact, I loved it so much that after only 10 months I successfully applied for a customer services advisor position at Aspire Housing.

“In less than a year I’d progressed from an apprentice to an advisor. I never expected that to happen so quickly, it was really rewarding.

“Six years on, I have worked in various roles throughout the housing teams including customer liaison officer, neighbourhood officer, and most recently allocations advisor. The work I do really makes a difference and I can talk to young people about my journey, hoping to inspire them to do an apprenticeship.

“One of the best moments was when I won an award for ‘Customer Excellence’ at the Aspire annual awards ceremony in 2012. Jonathan Wilkes presented the award and I was so happy, I couldn’t wait to tell my mum and dad the news, they were so proud.”

The Officeworks pre-apprenticeship programme provides school leavers with key skills and experiences needed to kick start their career in business, customer services and I.T. Why not follow in the footsteps of Thomas and book to attend our next open day? Or apply to join us now and a member of our team will be in touch.