Owen Wooldridge, Administrative Assistant, tells us more about what it means to be an apprentice at Tunstall
Feb 8, 2023
Tunstall Healthcare recognises the importance of engaging with the talent of the future, to build teams with the skills required to meet ever changing customer needs, help drive innovation, deliver services better, and invest in the communities it works in. Owen Wooldridge, Administrative Assistant, tells us more about what it means to be an apprentice at Tunstall.
I started at Tunstall in February 2022. I was originally studying business, law, and criminology at college with plans to become a lawyer, but I realised that this wasn’t the career for me and was brave enough to change direction.
There were aspects of my business course that I really enjoyed and found that it was something that I was skilled at. This led me to seek out opportunities where I could build on my existing academic knowledge, but also gain experience in the workplace and learn more about business development and what it takes to run a business successfully. I also felt that this would equip me with the skills I need to succeed in the real world of work.
The apprenticeship at Tunstall gives me the best of both worlds. Not only am I learning new skills through training and development, but I’m also working full time as well. While this is a big commitment, I’m really enjoying it and I’m definitely learning something new every day.
My apprenticeship involves a different lesson every two weeks on business related topics. This includes investment, taxes, and stakeholder engagement. We work on understanding how the different aspects of any business function and the key role that businesses play in contributing to our economy, lowering unemployment rates, and producing goods that are beneficial to different sectors and organisations.
While I’m also working full-time at Tunstall, I’m given every Friday off from my job so I have the time to focus and complete the work that has been set during my apprenticeship lessons.
For my regular job I work in the IT department as an Administrative Assistant. This sees me focus on a range of different tasks from board reports and raising purchase orders (POs), to tickets for manufacturing and different models of working to help improve the department. My colleagues have been great, really welcoming, and happy to share knowledge and support me as I learn.
I find my role very rewarding, particularly as it ties in well with my apprenticeship. It’s very focused on business operations and applications, rather than IT-specific issues and jobs. For example, I’m very involved in the financial tasks within the department which includes restocking equipment by checking the stockroom and identifying the items that need to be reordered.
I also enjoy working in such a large department. We currently have over 120 people in IT, across ten countries, and their work supports around 3,500 people across the Tunstall business. Ultimately without the IT department running smoothly, Tunstall wouldn’t be able to keep supporting its customers and vulnerable people.
My apprenticeship is due to finish in 2023 and I should come out with a Level Two Business Qualification.
I would definitely like to stay at Tunstall if the opportunity is there. I’m hopeful that this is the case as I regularly receive very positive feedback from people across IT. I’m very optimistic about the future; I definitely made the right choice by leaving college to pursue a more hands-on approach to career development.
I’m looking forward to continuing my development with Tunstall and working closely with my colleagues to tackle goals, search for areas of improvement, and help even more people by keeping the department running smoothly