A FORMER Basingstoke College of Technology apprentice has landed her dream job after completing a Level 3 qualification.

Ellie Thurman, pictured, studied at the college for two years after leaving school, doing a travel and tourism course.

She said: “After finishing this I wasn’t sure what step I wanted to take next. University has never really appealed to me, and I didn’t think going into full-time work was quite right for myself, so I thought about doing an apprenticeship.

“After looking into many different options regarding apprenticeships, I decided to apply for one.”

Ellie secured a position with Sandford Springs Hotel & Golf Club, in Kingsclere, studying hospitality supervision.

“The hospitality and tourism industry has always interested me, however I was never sure exactly what I wanted to do, which is why the apprenticeship that I chose was so appealing to me.

“I was able to spend a set amount of time in all of the different departments that were in the company that I work in, meaning that I could decide which department I enjoyed the most and had the most interest in to continue my career.”

When Ellie finished her apprenticeship, which took a year-and-a-half, she landed a full-time job as media and design assistant for the Leaderboard Group, which is the  parent company of Sandford Springs.

She said: “Whilst I was doing the apprenticeship I realised that the media department was my favourite to work in. I was lucky enough to be offered a job in this department and now work 40 hours a week here. I am very lucky to have such a great job and I absolutely love what I do and where I work.”

She added: “My favourite thing about my apprenticeship was the fact that I got to work in so many different departments such as the kitchen, media, accounts, housekeeping, hotel reception, sales and more.

“It was extremely interesting to see how every department linked and worked together for the whole business to come together.

“One of my favourite moments of my apprenticeship was when my One File was 100 per cent completed, as I knew that all of my hard work had paid off, however the absolute best moment was when I was offered a job at the end of it, as I knew that I was going into a job I would love.”

She encouraged others to consider an apprenticeship, saying: “I would extremely recommend the apprenticeship course that I did as it was really interesting and the work was always enjoyable.

“I liked making my way around the different departments and finding out knowledge about Sandford Springs, but I also enjoyed doing the college work and attending college once a week.”

She added: “My advice for Year 11s would be if you don’t feel as though you want to go to college then explore other options. Apprenticeships are such a great way of gaining skills and experience alongside being able to come out of it with a qualification.”