Martha White - My First Month as an Apprentice

Being young and inexperienced always has the potential to be a barrier in the jobs market. Therefore, when I was given the opportunity to be supported through an apprenticeship, by So Greene, I was hugely grateful.

I started my career in the hospitality industry, gathering the social and people skills to carry me through life. Within this job, you meet so many different people all from different industries, and it becomes quite easy to group them all together in your mind without comprehending the coordination behind each industry, and the specific job each industry gets done.

Before joining So Greene, I had my own generalisation about the waste industry. I thought it was fully council-run and that there were three types of waste: garden, recyclable and anything else is to go in the black bin. On my first day, I learnt that not all waste is to do with the local council and that the industry is a lot more complex than I first thought. Another thing I learnt very quickly was how much thought goes into waste management, regarding things like designing routes to be as cost efficient as possible, whilst being the lowest it can be on emissions; or deciding whether to accept or deny a job based on location, as it could throw off the entire round that it would be put on, and in this circumstance, outsourcing a job to a secondary waste management company who the job would be more convenient for; or even the disposal of the waste itself, where to tip it and being conscious of where it will end up / what will be done with it.

However, it is learning things like these that reminds me the reason I decided on an apprenticeship in the first place, to learn new things and skills! I have always been a keen learner and enjoy being mentally stimulated, so a chance to face new challenges and expand on my skills was one I felt I had to accept. On top of this, I knew the bare minimum about the waste industry, and I knew that taking on this apprenticeship role would teach me more about an industry that you do not often hear about, which is also interesting for me.

Upon my fourth week of working at So Greene, I find myself with much more extensive knowledge of the waste industry and how it runs, but still learning and growing more and more each day. For example, during my first week I felt almost intimidated by the sound of the phones ringing, but now I find myself answering calls like second nature. To me, this simple analogy proves that my confidence is already growing within the company. On top of this, I feel a lot more comfortable when using the system to complete my tasks, occasionally I do feel the need to ask for help, but I find that most of the time I know what to do but just want confirmation before I do something wrong.

Despite this, I have made mistakes which I have had to go back and rectify, which in itself has built my confidence within the job as I am comfortable with the fact that any mistakes I make are quickly discovered and easily fixed, and I am not made to feel bad about them.

Overall my first experience as an apprentice at So Greene has been an eye opening and exciting challenge and I am looking forward to continuing my journey and evolution as an apprentice.