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Scottish Apprenticeship Week - Auryn's Story
Around this time last year we were approached by Intec College to see if we would be interested in taking on a Modern Apprentice. As a small company it was quite a thought to take on a 16 or 17 year old with no work experience whatsoever who would need plenty of structure and looking after. But none of us are that old that we can't remember that stage when you have no experience and no-one wants to give you any experience. I created ScotlandShop so I had an interesting job while remaining in a rural area I love, and we have lots of lovely, loyal local staff so why not have someone a bit younger on the team? I agreed to interview a candidate from our local school, Berwickshire High School and see what I thought.
Auryn since admitted "entering a job from my perspective was terrifying as I found talking to anyone very difficult, in the beginning this made it hard to ask questions"
I have never interviewed anyone as quiet as Auryn but he definitely had something about him and we decided to take him under our wing. And what a great decision that was! From the quiet exterior we have seen a dry wit emerge over the months and a growing confidence. Auryn has learned our systems so quickly, his IT skills are of course far superior to our own and most importantly he has worked so hard to get things right. They always say how rewarding it is to take on a young person and we can be a bit cyncial about these kind of statements but actually it has been great to see Auryn go from schoolboy to vital member of the team in his time with us.
Scottish Apprenticeship Week is a celebration of the benefits apprenticeships bring to businesses, individuals and the economy. You can see the highlights here. My highlight was reading Auryn's piece for his case study:
During the first few weeks it was very shaky as I was still trying to get to grips with how things worked around ScotlandShop. However after some time passed things began to click and make more sense. I hope that I can continue to be a part of this astounding team and contribute as much and as best I can.
Makes us feel quite proud! The next highlight will be when Auryn finishes his apprenticeship and signs a full time contract with us so he can continue his development and become even more of a tartan expert.
