National Apprenticeship Week

 

To celebrate National Apprenticeship week, we wanted to introduce Naked Solar’s three apprentices. They have shown tremendous resilience and commitment to learning during 2020 / 21 when the majority of the team have been working from home and it wasn’t quite “business as usual”.

 

First up  is Chris who started with us back in October 2019 and is on the cusp of finishing his IT apprenticeship. Chris was the first IT apprentice we took on and has shown great willingness to be part of the company. So much so we decided to keep him on as a full time employee.

 

Next is Kane, who joined us at the beginning of this year. Kane wanted to kickstart his career in IT, within a business that is growing and found our IT apprenticeship the ideal role for him. He is the 2nd IT apprentice to join the team.

 

Last but not least we have Georgia who has been with us for 11 months, Georgia joined us on a Marketing Apprenticeship back in January 2020 and very quickly was dumped in at the deep end with a team trip to Morzine!

 

For us it has been a great joy to welcome apprentices to our growing team. It has allowed the apprentices to introduce fresh new ideas to our business, and we’ve been able to adapt their training according to the needs of the business.


 

Kane Edwards – Digital Support Technician L3

 

Why did you apply for this position? Was there something specific in the job ad that drew your attention?

The reason I applied for the position was because I had not had a full-time job before, and this was an amazing position to kickstart my career. I also saw what this company was doing for our community and how it was growing as a business and wanted to be a part of it.

 

What is your biggest accomplishment during your apprenticeship to date?

My biggest accomplishment so far is being able to make a work flow using Naked Solar’s custom CRM.

 

Would you recommend your apprenticeship to others?

I would recommend it to others as even I when seeing it at first was a bit overwhelmed by the position but when I have joined the people around me (Supervisor and Manager) have been lenient to let me learn in my own time.

 

Did you feel welcomed by the team when you started?

When joining Naked Solar everyone greeted me very kindly and tried (as hard as it is during COVID) to welcome me into the business.

 

What would you say are the main benefits of becoming an apprentice?

The main benefits of becoming an apprentice is that you’re learning what it is like to be in an office environment as well as learning the job role and being paid.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years I am hoping to have done a few years in CRM, learning as much as I can to use in the future, as well as starting my open university business degree.

 


 

Chris Burt – Diploma in IT User Skills L3

 

Why did you apply for this position? Was there something specific in the job ad that drew your attention?

I applied for this position because I was interested in working for a local company and had an interest in renewables, specifically Solar. This job gave me the opportunity to work within some unique software I had never seen before whilst also tackling hardware problems, so I knew I’d be able to gather a large amount of specialist experience here.

 

What is your biggest accomplishment during your apprenticeship to date?

My biggest accomplishment was creating an automated process to construct Schematics of Customer’s systems – it showed me that a piece of software I had made could create a physical object that would be put up in the customers property.

 

Would you recommend your apprenticeship to others?

I would recommend my apprenticeship to people who like to figure things out on their own and enjoy a challenge, all my college work was done within the office and was work based so I had to put in a lot of effort to create my apprenticeship work.

 

Did you feel welcomed by the team when you started?

Yes! I was the youngest by a fair amount, so I felt a little nervous at first, but I was given a proper Naked welcome and thrown straight in with the team.

 

What would you say are the main benefits of becoming an apprentice?

Experience! The number of skills you gain by working are unfathomable before you start. At School and in my own time I practiced coding, but it was only by working on coding projects at work that I realised how different coding is when used in a real practice rather than just random coding problems.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Within 5 years I see myself working for a Dynamics 365 Software team or self-employed creating my own Dynamics 365 Solutions for clients.

 


 

 

Georgia Holder – Marketing Assistant L3 

 

Why did you apply for this position? Was there something specific in the job ad that drew your attention?

I had been interested in marketing for a few years whilst in hospitality, however the opportunity to get into marketing never arose. I felt like I was at a bit of a dead end, until I came across Naked Solar’s marketing apprentice advertisement. It ticked all the boxes for me; sustainable company, local and an opportunity for me to step into the marketing world.

 

What is your biggest accomplishment during your apprenticeship to date?

Working through my apprenticeship through lockdown. Its not been easy but I’ve learnt so much about myself such as my learning styles, self-motivation and how important organisation and consistent scheduling is.

 

Would you recommend your apprenticeship to others?

Yes I would definitely recommend the marketing assistant apprenticeship. It’s the perfect course for someone who is new to marketing and wants to get their foot in the door.

 

Did you feel welcomed by the team when you started?

The Naked team we’re very welcoming from the start. I found out a week before my first day that I was invited on their staff skiing trip. You cant get much more welcoming than that!

 

What would you say are the main benefits of becoming an apprentice?

Working In the office full time – For me it really helped to be able to do my coursework whilst in work as you’re able to put your new skills straight into practice, which gives great experience, confidence and a head start into the industry. Whilst going through KSB(Knowledge skills & behaviour) with my tutor I realise how much I cover on a daily basis without realising.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I seem myself growing within the digital marketing sector, either working for myself or within a business that shares the same ethical values, like NS 😊

 

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