Ixion Apprentice Jess looks at how she’s progressed this month. She’s met her own object to ask more questions, gained another distinction and has been turning negatives into positives!
Jess is completing a Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship, and you can share her journey.
“My highlight this month was being able to adapt when something didn’t quite go to plan and still turn it into a positive outcome.”
This has been an exiting and busy month for myself as an Ixion Apprentice, with a lot happening in my work and home life!
I feel myself making massive changes in my communication with co-workers and my ability to ask questions and have positive conversations. Last month I wrote a challenge to ask a question and I have done that, and whenever I have a phone call whether one on one, or a group call I ask questions and try to add to conversations. Some days it still feels like I am not quite feeling in the mood for talk and others I chat for England, so I am not always successful, but I just try again the next day.
I also chose to create and give a presentation to my tutor, so my progression this month has been steady, and I have been learning more and more about the company. From an outsider and an insider’s perspective having access to more documents and new people to talk to.
With the guidance and instructions from others I have also been continuing to improve and develop the weekly report I produce. Whilst there are issues, going forward I hope to develop my proofreading skills so I can look at my work from another perspective and make adjustments before it goes out as the occasional mistakes have been made.
“You are doing your best”
To anyone else who is having a bad day or making mistakes or is a new apprentice my advice would be to remind yourself that you are doing your best and it is good to make mistakes and ask for help. If everything was constantly perfect there would be no room to progress, where as when you make a mistake turn it into a positive by highlighting it as an area that can still be built on.
I had another meeting with my tutor where I had got my wires a little crossed and the assignment I had done was not the one due in that session, sitting on the call and that realisation I thought oh no what to do now! My tutor reassured me that it could happen to anyone and said it was okay we could use it for another objective, I had done a PowerPoint presentation on the structure of the organisation, where Ixion sits within, where I sit and the impact of my work.
Then we did a recorded session where I presented my presentation, I felt it was going really well. My tutor Maria was asking me loads of questions and I was able to answer and articulate my thoughts without too much pressure of a massive audience.
When we were uploading onto the OneFile and I was awaiting my grade the suspense about what grade was I going to get was nerve wracking. When working for a grade I always say I will be happy with a pass and anything above is amazing. However, that does not stop me for putting in one hundred percent on each assignment it just allows me to not get disappointed if there are certain areas I struggle in.
Then Maria said I got a distinction, and I was very smiley for the rest of the day and it totally lifted my mood, being able to change around the session from what seemed like it was not going great at the start, then at the end making it work to achieve such a positive result was like a wave of relief crashing down.
Little steps and acheivements make a big difference… like doing more emails
More work-related changes have been… my email responses. Something I hadn’t thought to much into was how formal is formal enough and how to be friendly at the same time. I have been replying to emails more and adding a have a great day or asking how someone’s weekend went. Especially working from home, it is important to reach out to co-workers for them and for yourself.
Being more active by email was harder than I thought. I have a habit to read, and email do the task and think great all sorted. What is missing is sharing that communication to someone else to notify them it has been completed. I am getting there and am making a conscious effort to not just read but to respond to emails as and when I get to them.
