Daniella Shields
Apprenticeship case study
‘My job role has massively expanded through my learning’ – apprentice progresses her career and learned while she earned
A HR apprentice has gone from an office manager with some human resources duties to a Human Resources Manager with some office management duties after earning a distinction at City of Bristol College.
38-year-old Daniella Shields chose to study an apprenticeship to gain the necessary qualifications to develop her career in her chosen field and work her way up the HR career ladder at her employer, Doveton Press Ltd.
Daniella said: “My job role has massively expanded through my learning, I began the journey as an office manager with some human resources duties and ended it as a Human Resources Manager with some office management duties.”
Daniella had previously studied her Level 3 Human Resources course with the college and heard the college offered a Level 5 follow-on course through a third party. She said: “Learning through the evening classes was challenging and a commitment to say the least but I persevered even though the assignments were a huge step up from Level 3.”
At the time, the aspiring HR manager found doing a qualification through an apprenticeship gave her the best of both worlds, with the classroom-based learning providing her with the knowledge and the work-based portion allowed her to put the knowledge into practice in a real-life setting.
But it wasn’t always plain sailing for Daniella, part way through the course, she debated giving up because of the challenges juggling her work, studies and home life but, with the support of her ‘amazing’ and ‘supportive’ assessor Sarah Mitchell, she was able to continue and secure a brilliant final grade.
Daniella added: “I have been able to manage and implement redundancy process, completely on my own with no HR team support (I work for an SME so the HR team is me and a payroll administrator). I managed the furlough scheme and employee engagement throughout the pandemic and have implemented some HR practices and policies at my work place which are working really well.
“Before my academic journey began I would never have thought I would have achieved that alone. Amazingly, I managed a distinction on my apprenticeship. Looking back, it is clear that although it was challenging it was so worth the effort.”
Daniella will now put what she has learned to the test and will continue to work her way up the career ladder and continue with her learning.
Doveton Press Ltd’s Managing Director, Gavin Savage, said: “Daniella was well supported by her assessor. Apprenticeships give young people the chance to earn while studying and having mentorship. Daniella wanted to expand her knowledge in-line with business requirements.”
Visit our website to find out more about the Level 5 Human Resources Management course and you’re your study options are.
