How It All Happened...

How it all happened I now know how much of an amazing opportunity this particular apprenticeship scheme is! Don’t get me wrong, when I first heard about the opportunity the initial sound of it was tempting, otherwise I wouldn’t have applied. But I massively underrated it.

Whilst I was studying for my A-levels, I informed my teachers that I wouldn’t be applying for university but applying for apprenticeship schemes instead. During a revision session for my last exam, my Business Studies teacher received an email outlining the apprenticeship scheme at Rathbones. When she showed it to me, the position really appealed to me so I requested an application form. I took far longer completing this application than I have on any other, which says a lot about how much I wanted it. A few weeks later, I received an email out of the blue inviting me to attend a recruitment week. Looking back now, my reaction probably was a bit over the top considering I didn’t have the job yet. Oops…

When I arrived at Rathbones, the building had me lost for words. I can remember thinking to myself “eh, wouldn’t it be nice to work here!”
Along with around 11 other applicants, I received a presentation about Rathbones and this was when it really hit home about how good an opportunity this apprenticeship was. After the presentation, we were guided through the format of the week and advised of what would happen each day. We were told that the recruitment process would require us to produce a 10 minute presentation on how we would spend £100,000 and then there would be an interview on the following day. I had a feeling it wouldn’t just be an interview that we would be judged on, but I had no idea we would have to do a presentation as well. Luckily the beginning of the week consisted of in depth training on presentation and interview skills, which helped me to feel 100% prepared.

Even though the training helped, I still felt so nervous before the presentation! I would find myself going to bed and lying there for hours thinking about it. Thinking of what I was going to say, thinking of different ways of saying them. The day of the presentation came round and I was the first up. I was happy knowing it would be over in a few hours rather than having to think about it all day. However, once I got underway with the presentation I was fine. I settled down straight away and surprised myself on how well I did. I introduced myself, presented my presentation, answered questions and left. It was all over so fast! I knew then it was only the interview left.

I was again first up in my interview and was being interviewed by 3 Managers from Rathbones. I was surprised by how much they comforted me which really helped to calm my nerves. Thanks to them, the answers came so easily! At the end of the interview I was told to expect a phone call on Monday. I think it’s safe to say, that was the longest weekend of my life!

Thankfully, the phone rang and I was told that I had been successful in getting a place as one of six Rathbones apprentices. I can’t describe how happy I was! I told my mum and she burst into tears. I told my dad and he simply shook my hand and said “nice one mate”. At this point, I just couldn’t wait to start.