Hi I’m Holly, a Chartered Management Apprentice at DS Smith. I joined the SMI team from finishing my A-levels and couldn’t be happier to have fallen into this role. However, it was not a plain sailing journey to get here.

Like many others, my high school years where clouded by COVID and during this time my mental health took a turn. This led to me being hospitalised with an eating disorder which prolonged my absence from education. Due to this, no one thought I’d be able to do my GCSEs, never mind make my way onto a degree apprenticeship.

I’m sharing my story to show that even when you reach the hardest time in your life it is still possible to achieve great things afterwards.

My Journey

I have always been very academic, for many it was a given that I would go to university. However, my strive to work has been equally evident from a young age meaning that continuing further education without employment was not appealing for me. I got my first part time job at 13 as a Saturday girl in a local salon. I absolutely loved it and dare I say learnt more about the world of work than education alone could ever teach me. Following my illness, the main focus was my health, and education came second but I refused to let my eating disorder negatively shape anymore of my life and didn’t want it to impact my education. After around 2 years of absence, I returned to Year 11 and revised as hard as possible. Thankfully this paid off and my GCSEs still hold a place as one of my biggest achievements, not because of the difficulty or level of qualification but because of what it symbolised.

I carried this drive into my A-levels where I found a love for Psychology, Law and Philosophy and Ethics. As difficult as my battles were, they gave me an appreciation that I could even go to Sixth Form, and I channelled this into working hard in every task. However, I still had no idea what I wanted to do, just that strictly university was not for me. I’m very grateful that my Sixth Form had an amazing careers team who showcased all opportunities- this led me on the search for an apprenticeship. When I saw my now role advertised, I knew it would be a great opportunity. As someone who wasn’t settled in a career path choice, the opportunity to work through different departments was ideal so I applied.

After getting through the first stages, I was invited to an assessment day. One of the tasks we were given was to give a TedTalk on a topic of our choice. I chose to discuss my eating disorder and how it had shaped me, this was a full circle moment as I’d taken my hardest battle and shown the strengths it had given me. As nervous as I was, it went well and I was offered the job that day. I was specifically commended for my vulnerability in my choice of TedTalk. I am a strong believer that interviews are just as much of a chance for you to interview the company as it is for them to interview you and I knew straight away that this was a company I wanted to work at. Fast forward nearly 6 months, I’m on my second placement in Operations, have been on multiple trips to further explore DS Smith, started my Business Management Degree and overall skyrocketed the development of my skills. I could not recommend apprenticeships more.

My tips to get an apprenticeship

-Be yourself

As cliché as it sounds, it is crucial that you are yourself during your applications. Businesses want to hire real people, not polished robots. As well as this, you don’t want to spend 4+ years at a company that doesn’t align with who you truly are.

-Take time on your applications

We all know how competitive apprenticeships are but the more applications you do doesn’t mean the more offers you get. Employers want to see effort and depth in your application, not a copy and pasted template for all. Make sure to research each company and tailor your application to them.

-Don’t just apply for anything

Whilst there can be a lot of pressure to secure any apprenticeship, only apply for those you can actually see yourself doing. Firstly, this saves you time to put more effort into the ones you want and secondly it ensures you don’t settle for an opportunity you don’t actually want.

-Work experience

Get as much work experience, sector exposure and personal achievements as you can to discuss in your applications. You don’t have to use them all but preparing your answers on these means your ready for any questions during the application process.

Good Luck!

Holly Smith

Business Management Degree Apprentice

You can find out more and connect with Holy on LinkedIn.