Student Case Study: Kat Balaam – Joules

Qube have recently caught up with Level 4 Retail Manager Apprentice, Kat Balaam, of Joules in Bury St Edmunds.

Kat told Qube all about her Apprenticeship experience since May 2021: ‘I heard about the Apprenticeship scheme through the Joules communications and developmental application. I attended a Zoom session to hear more about it and heard great things from staff in other stores who had taken part in the scheme previously and decided to apply during lockdown.’

‘I always like to learn and I wanted to build my confidence in the role of Assistant Manager. The Apprenticeship programme is adding to my skill set, which is helping me develop in my role and I have learnt new approaches and models around team management which has been really useful.’

‘My skills tutor is great at listening to me and offering their knowledge in how to approach my assignments and studies. The new skills I have learnt throughout the programme is the different types of Leadership Skills and how you need to adapt to different situations as well as using emotional intelligence when communicating with the team. Building in the time to complete my assignments has been challenging at times especially over the Christmas period which is our (Joules) busiest time of year - but I was open with my tutor about this who has adapted the workload accordingly.’

‘The next steps for me after completing the apprenticeship programme is to utilise the skills I’ve learnt in being the best Assistant Manager I can - I might look at the next level Apprenticeship scheme too.’

‘I’ve learnt that the world is my oyster! I really hope to manage my own store in the future and I think the Level 4 Apprenticeship is giving me a great skill set which will help me achieve that.’

‘To anyone who is considering doing the Apprenticeship programme, definitely do it! It’s great for building confidence, improving your knowledge and will look great on your CV!’

For more information on current Apprenticeship opportunities available via the Qube recruitment division ‘Qube Talent’, please click here.