Just under a month ago our first apprentice, Kelly, started working with us. I thought it would be interesting to provide an opportunity for her to write a little bit about her experiences within our business. What she wrote is interesting, sweet and hopefully provides a slightly different insight into what we do within our business. Either way after reading this I thought it was worth sharing…

It hasn’t exactly been a normal first few weeks of my apprenticeship with Principal Financial. This being my very first job I was expecting to be sat in an office all day every day working hard nonstop. Well I’ve still been working hard it’s just the sat in the office part that was a little different.

I’ve shaken a lot of hands over the past two weeks and heard quite a lot about this thing called “auto enrolment”. Before I started my apprenticeship I had no clue what it was or what it’s all about like everyone else my age but I’m sure that by next year I’ll know a significant amount more!

 It’s been a great learning experience so far and I never expected to be sat in the Four Seasons Hotel, the fanciest hotel I’ve ever been in before! I was defiantly feeling out of place just sitting in the lobby never mind when I walked into a room full of cameras and men in suits on the second day of my apprenticeship. Everyone I met told me Chris was just throwing me in at the deep end!

Chris has had me sitting in on meetings, taking me completely out of my comfort zone and taking me to networking event in Canary Wharf where I very nearly agreed to dressing up as a penguin for charity!

When I haven’t been out with Chris I’ve been in the office with Cassie where I’ve been learning how to use a number of programs and shown so many new things that my head is, at times, ready to burst!

Not only am I learning all the office tasks, and finding out more and more about the business and what exactly it does but I’m also learning another key skill, working out the trains.

Before I started at Principal Financial I’d never been on a train on my own in my life and actually…the thought of it scared me.

I’d never really been into London before either only on school trips. My first time on the train into London on my own was for my actual job interview and let me tell you the journey there did not go to plan, I almost got the wrong train and then I got lost and couldn’t find the office! Of all the days for this to happen it had to happen on the day of my interview! So the fact that I go into London on the train is an accomplishment for me and I’m slowing getting the hang of it!

I think overall my time at Principal Financial is going to be a little different from any other apprenticeship and I’m pretty sure Chris will keep my on my toes and carry on throwing me in at the deep end, it certainly keeps things varied and different. I feel that the team at Principal have a lot to teach me and I’m sure I have a few things to teach them too…

It’s just another day in the office.