Entering the “World of work”

Leaving school’s daunting enough, never mind throwing the unknown ‘World of Work’ into the mix. But with such a supportive team, like I have at Fortus, the transition was as smooth as could be.

Going from school life to working life brings around numerous new challenges, such as longer days or the newfound independence you don’t have at school – which at the start, was a big stepping stone for me. Independence requires a lot more self-motivation, which can definitely be challenging, however, this became easier with the encouraging and supportive team behind me, who were all willing to help me every step of the way. The longer days became the ‘norm’ extremely quickly, largely because I enjoyed my work, making the days fly by. Finding a balance between work and home’s a big motivator for me to get through these new days. I know when I get home from work, the time’s my own rather than having to worry about school work like before.

Another major difference is the number of new people I meet daily! First it was my team, but very quickly it branched out to a number of different colleagues and clients. The interaction with new people makes me love my job even more; it’s great to have the opportunity to meet people I may not have done otherwise, also it gives me an insight into other people’s lives and jobs, which is fascinating to me. Similarly, adapting to new environments at a fast pace was something I wasn’t used to beforehand, but this is something I now relish, especially, because of the variety of experience I’ve gained from doing so.

Since joining as an apprentice in September 2019, I’ve predominantly worked in the Audit team at the Northampton office, but I’ve been fortunate enough to gain experience in the Accounts team in Kettering and the Service Charge team in Flitwick. This has allowed me to meet the wider teams, understand how each service line operates, and most importantly the critical roles each team plays in our business. Working with Accounts was particularly helpful because I gained hands-on experience whilst studying my advanced bookkeeping module, which really aided my understanding of the topic.

Overall, my journey from school to work’s been an unforgettable experience, to say the least. I’d recommend to anyone, especially working for a company like Fortus, to take an apprenticeship. I was apprehensive initially, because it’s a completely new environment. However, the team couldn’t have been more supportive and welcoming – they’ve always been happy to help and answer questions, walk me through new tasks, but they’ve also given me the independence necessary to enable me to flourish, gain confidence in my role and as a result, I feel like a valued member of the team.