Josh Kenny - EDA Apprenticeships (Electric Center)
Josh’s Apprenticeship Story
I am a Branch Assistant at Electric Center; a leading electrical wholesaler, where I started in March of 2021. Before my apprenticeship I went to Sixth Form, but I felt as though it would be more favourable to start my career first hand gaining skills and knowledge instead of on paper and PowerPoints. I chose to do an apprenticeship because of the benefits of hands-on learning in a working environment and developing a wide range of skills, whilst still getting a qualification. Since then, I have progressed a lot, constantly gained new skills and knowledge, and improved my confidence.
When I first started my apprenticeship, I knew nothing about the industry, or even about electrical products and how they work. However now I am very competent with knowledge about many aspects of the industry including: lighting, cable and cable management, wiring accessories like sockets and switches and much more. On my first day the only responsibilities I had were things like filing, understanding health and safety, and just watching everyone else to understand how the day-to-day business operated. But now my responsibilities include but are not limited to: admin work with filing and invoicing, the goods in process and making sure the warehouse is in order, dealing with customers through email, telephone or on the trade counter and much more. I have slowly worked my way up to these tasks, and still improving daily. Throughout my apprenticeship I have built up my product knowledge by looking through all of our brand and supplier catalogues available, and constantly asking questions if I get stuck or confused. Over the course of my apprenticeship, I have gained a lot of confidence liaising with suppliers and customers daily and built relationships with our customers, providing them with a better service.
Within my time at Electric Center, I have received and taken part in many opportunities to improve my skills or knowledge. Nearer to the start of my apprenticeship I was able to go out and help with deliveries in the van, giving me an insight of what different branches and worksites looked and operated like. This showed me a better view of the working environment for different locations, and helped me build confidence further by meeting and talking to people who I previously only spoke to over the phone. A few months ago, I was also able to go to our regional office, and I received some training from our Regional Manger about prospect calls to potential customers and general phone etiquette. Because of this I started to use different techniques and approaches when calling prospects, which made each conversation easier, more natural and more successful. This also helped me improve my phone presence and the confidence I needed to speak to customers, but also to meet the people in the regional office, learn what they do and how it works. This training that I was able to experience helped me and our branch open the highest number of new accounts within the company in the quarter, which was really good to be a part of, and it was really good to see how my progression and training was impactful. After shadowing my colleagues on the counter for a while, it has boosted my confidence with different selling techniques to customers. I now ask/offer any additional products they might need for example: cleats or clips with any cable. I also know the customers more, so I am able to offer certain products that they regularly use, or offer our delivery service when getting an order over the phone if they regularly request deliveries.
The advice I would have for anyone thinking of doing an apprenticeship, is to give it a go. If they are not liking traditional education too much, want to earn money and start working, or want to build their career with first-hand experience like me, I think an apprenticeship is definitely the best option in these scenarios. Apprenticeships give the option of work and study, with a great opportunity for progression in the industry and for a long-term career. After deciding an apprenticeship is the right choice, when starting out the best advice I could give is to not be afraid to ask questions. Nothing bad will happen and you can then get a better understanding of what you need to do instead of making mistakes and maybe not understanding why. I believe that companies should always consider doing an apprenticeship program because it allows people to experience the necessary training needed, but tailored to the individual. I have been able to progress and improve because I have received a lot of help and training specific to this role, helping me to do the best I can whilst still learning. LSP has been very helpful throughout my apprenticeship, always ensuring I am on the right track and getting the correct help if not. I have been working through the modules very well and just completed them all. My tutor and I have had monthly meetings and he has helped me very much when completing these.
When deciding to pursue an apprenticeship, I didn’t really have anything specific in mind and wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do in the future. But after getting some experience in this workplace and this industry, I hope to be able to work my way up in the company and in the-long term future to be able to become a manager. Before discovering this industry, I didn’t know much about electrical wholesale, but I enjoy what each day can bring, and having the potential for great progression opportunities. It is a good career to be able to interact and build a good relationship with customers, suppliers and colleagues. Each day can be slightly different, with a mix of office and warehouse work or with all the range of enquiries we receive for many different things.
In conclusion I believe that doing my apprenticeship has opened up many doors for further opportunities and has kickstarted a good career for me in the future. I have improved on an immense amount of things since the first day of my apprenticeship and have progressed so far thanks to the help and guidance I have received. I would recommend an apprenticeship to anyone, and hope more employers start to offer them because it helps people like me start to build our future.