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Beaconplus - You can shine with an apprenticeship

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Darren Simmons of Beaconplus

Darren Simmons, an ex-apprentice and now manager at Beaconplus, tells us how his apprenticeship has propelled his career forward!

We are proud to work in partnership with Beaconplus as they are a fantastic company that strongly promote personal growth and development of their staff through the apprenticeship and up-skilling route. As you'll see from these case studies, a large number of their employees have been, and still are, going through the apprenticeship route; from new starters all the way up to managers. 

Where are you/what role do you hold in the company now?

“I am a senior manager for the company, and my role is to oversee the telecoms team of the company.”

How did it feel on your first day?

“I remember being nervous, and conscious of working on the phones as this was an area that I had never worked on before.  Everyone was very friendly, and made me feel right at home.”

What has the support been like from Total People? 

“The support from Total People was great.  Melissa was a superb mentor to me, and attended every month and would help me out with any problems I had, and gave me great advice throughout my whole apprenticeship.”

Have you enjoyed working at Beaconplus? 

“Yes, I am approaching nearly 10 years at being at Beaconplus.  As a manager at the company, my day is always different with queries coming in my direction which need to be answered quickly and efficiently for our customers. I have met lots of new people at Beaconplus who have become friends for life.  I feel like I am always learning new things which keeps me interested in my job role.”

What have been some of your highlights so far?

“I would say travelling out to see customers face to face, and building great relationships with both suppliers and customers.  I would also say it is has been great to see my team grow over the years.  When I first took control of my team I only had the one member of staff working alongside me, and now I have six!  This has been a great challenge to monitor and assist each member of staff along with my own workload!”

How does it feel to be supporting the next generation of apprentices in your workplace?

“Knowing that I have completed the apprenticeship, it is good to see so many people follow the same route to how I began my career.  I will always offer advice to any of the apprentices knowing that I have been in their position, and I am part of the interview process at Beaconplus where I can give the apprentices advice on how the apprenticeship works exactly knowing I have completed this.  It is enjoyable seeing them come in from the start, and grow with their confidence in particular when they first on the phones you can sense them being nervous about this but after a few weeks they grow in confidence very easily!”

Please click on the links below to read about the other inspirational case studies from employees at Beaconplus.

Click here to read Richard's story.

Click here to read Katie's story.

Click here to read Robyn's story.

Click here to watch Rebecca's video.

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