Events Coordinator Review

I am an Events coordinator at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. I work as part of the Public Engagement team. Mt job involves the organisation of events from coming up with event ideas, contacting and liaising with Schools and Stakeholders, dealing with room bookings, giving out health and safety information and directions, to organising tours around the lab and talks from our dedicated scientists, to running workshops such as teaching KS2 children about constellations during one of our stargazing events to helping assist with the Apollo @ 50 story telling sessions. These are just some of the amazing things I get to do on a daily basis. My job as a science communicator and event coordinator is a careers I hadn't even thought about, but since taking my level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship, it's given me a new direction and taught me skills for life. I am truly thankful for my opportunity and recommend it to anyone thinking about taking an apprenticeship. I enjoy inspiring the next generation of budding scientists and really getting them involved in the science we do here at the lab. Seeing their faces light up when hold the oldest thing they're ever going to hold (our giant meteorite) and watching their reaction as they tell their mum they've held a piece of the moon or a piece of mars. The hard work organising events making it all worth it when you engage with the public and see their reactions. I love interacting with the general public, the stories they tell and the joy in their voices as they talk about their passion for science. I also love interacting with primary and secondary School children and finding out what science fascinates them and why. Interacting with lots of different people about science from our scientists here at the lab, to stakeholders from universities, to members of the general public and School children is something I love. Everyone has a shared interest but equally everyone has a different background. It's inspiring! As an event coordinator I have lots of responsibility, I run the sites visits system on a day to day basis, making sure all the logistics have been arrange and no events clash. Running the visits system is a huge responsibility, if events clash and I haven't checked or liaised with the visit hosts then ultimately this is my fault. I make sure i keep up to date with all visits happening here on site.

Since starting my apprenticeship I have learnt a whole host of new skills. Not only have I learnt on the job, I have also developed new skills through attending my IT functional skills at Abingdon college and learnt new skills during my business administration course hosted at Witney College. Some examples of personal skills I have obtained since starting my apprenticeship are; I have become more confident in myself and when liaising with internal and external people. I have made good working relationships with the Scientists and staff on site. Good working relationships I have found are key to my success during my apprenticeship. I have also learnt to communicate with a whole array of people from different backgrounds, from communicating to Scientists and Engineers, to communicating with the general public and School children, all of which communicate on different levels. I have also improved my ability to work under pressure. Having multiple events on, Schools bringing extra participants, electrical equipment not working and course work to complete, I have managed to work through this in a calm and productive manor. As well as personal skills I have also developed some of my professional skills. These include; working well as part of a team, working on projects individually and completing them before there deadline, since working at the lab I have had the opportunity to work as part of a team and on individual projects. I believe my 6 week Business Administration course at Witney College really helped me with this. It helped me develop my professional skills as well as my personal skills. I learnt to work on collective projects with people I had only just met, these skills i developed were transferable and now I use them in my everyday life.

The Apprenticeship programme has taught me vast amounts. What I really enjoyed was the fact the programme was split in two. There was the course work side of things and the College side of things. During my 6 week Business Administration course i learnt a lot. Mainly personal skills, softer skills such as; developing myself, learning the importance of time management, being taught about various business topics like leadership and how to work with conflict in the work place. This side of the programme i enjoyed the most, i think it's because i was with likeminded people, all in the same boat all learning the same thing but doing totally different jobs. I would definitely say I've made friends for life! The skills I've learnt have been transferable, I've found myself using many of them in my day to day life both on and off the job. As well as attending college I was also assigned course work, an assessor came in once a month to mark previous course work, set new course work and chat to me generally about how things were going. My assessor was lovely, she helped me stay focused and on track to finish my apprenticeship. The end goal of becoming an Events Coordinator and qualified Level 3 Business Administrator really motivated me to complete my course work and finish on time. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the programme, my college assessors were brilliant and I would highly recommend taking an apprenticeship.

Overall I felt the programme was organised and structured well. The courses for me were held at the right time and gave me an insight into Business Administration whilst completing the course work. My IT functional skills and Business administration courses didn't clash, which really helped. This gave me the opportunity to focus solely on one part of the Apprenticeship. I think by structuring course work deadlines monthly helped to keep me motivated and on track. I knew there was also course work to be done but at the same time it wasn't overwhelming. However i feel like if my course work was given to me more frequently, the amount would have felt overwhelming and I'd be rushing to complete it. Visa versa if the course work deadlines were longer i.e. two or more months, then i wouldn't have felt as motivated to complete them straight away and might have left them to the last minute, because of this i felt the programme was structured well.

Regarding how much support I received from my employer, i felt this was good. I was always able to complete my course work on time and during work time, although in my job i wasn't able to have one set day a week where i focus solely on course work, my employer was very understanding of this and therefore delegated work to others when i needed to focus on my written course work. During my functional IT skills examination, she helped arrange one to one tuition with herself in order to help me pass. My employer attended all of my college review meetings and later discussed these with me. I'm glad my employer was fully supportive of my apprenticeship. Regarding my written course work, this was all completed by myself. I didn't need to as my employer or colleagues for any additional support during this.

Regarding support from my training provider and assessors the support received was purely guidance. At no time did i need extra support. My assessors were always there if i did need further support, however i felt this wasn't necessary. My assessor came in once a month to mark previous course work and set me new course work deadlines. When going through my next set of course work questions, she would explain what was required of me in this particular unit. Down the side of each unit questions were a list of bullet point pointers. My assessor pointed these out to me and said the right hand side were for guidance if i was stuck. I referred to these pointers a few times throughout my apprenticeship but not that often. I felt everything was clear and explained to me well. If i did have any questions after the review meeting, my assessor explained i could email her. Through out my apprenticeship i only had to email twice to ask for a question to be explained. The support i received from my training provider was excellent.

I feel that my qualification through my training provider helps me to perform better in my role because i have learnt and developed new skills through out this process. Through the apprentice programme and the training provider I have learnt both personal and professional skills, which are transferable to my everyday life and job as an Events Coordinator. These skills have helped me manage my time better, given me the ability to work well under pressure and have taught me the importance of working well as a team and individually. Since achieving my qualification i have felt a lot more confident in day to day activities such as; using spreadsheets which i learnt to use during my IT functional skills course and through my unit 66 spreadsheet software unit, i learnt how to communicate and connect with new clients, which i learnt through attending my Business Administration course at Witney College. I picked units at the start of the course that would correlate with my day to day job role. The flexibility of being able to pick what units i studied meant, the course content was relevant to my job as an Events Coordinator. Overall the qualification i completed through my training provider helped me to perform better in my job role. Without completing this qualification i know i definitely wouldn't be able to perform as well as i do on a day to day basis.

Here at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory there are lots of things to get involved with on site. We have a recreational society which hosts quiz evenings, exercise classes, summer bbq's, social events and even has it's own gym. The Rec soc was set up to help encourage staff to mingle and enjoy themselves whilst in a working environment. It's there to help stimulate employees and burn off some steam if and when needed. The rec soc host lots of social events for employees and family and friends of staff. Networking is a big part of life at Rutherford, employers try to promote networking as much as possible. Networking helps create good working relationships. The Rec soc also offer external events, by being part of the rec soc club you own an cssc card. This card is a discount card and can be used by employees, the rec soc organise discount days out to anyone who owns a cssc card. The can travel to places such as heritage sites to castles and beaches all at a discount. The rec soc organise tickets and transport for these events.

Yes

I would 100% recommend this company to any friend or family member. The company offers great opportunities to graduate and apprentice placement students. STFC are keen on furthering your skills, they encourage employees to go back to college and learn. They are a keen believers in supporting their staff and continuing their learning. STFC pay into an apprenticeship levy in order to make apprenticeships and degrees free for all staff members. By paying for their staff's continued development encourages more people to take them. STFC buy into their employees and this really shows. As well as this STFC provide training courses to all staff members, their are mandatory courses such as; fire safety training, first aid training and APR training and other courses which you can request to attend such as; cryogenic training, STEM ambassador training and developing your softer skills training. All courses are completely free of charge and anyone can attend. At Rutherford we have a flexi system, this makes working here much more flexible with day to day life meaning staff can clock in and out when they like as long as core hours are worked and contractual hours are met each month. The flexi system is great for everyone, from parents who need to pick their children up from school, to staff who need to attend hospital appointments to staff who have extra curricular activities. These are just a few of the reasons Rutherford is a great place to work.

If you want to apply for a job at Rutherford and work for STFC (Science Technology and Facilities council) i would say make sure you are passionate about wanting to work here. What I've noticed about employees at RAL is that they are extremely passionate about what they do. Weather it be working as an Engineering Apprentice in RAL Space, or as a scientists in ISIS or working in CLF on the laser beams. All staff are passionate about what they do. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from or what background you have, as long as you are passionate and have drive that'll help you go a long way. As well as being passionate I'd say it doesn't matter if you don't fully know what you want to do or where your interests lie. If you are motivated and willing to learn this works majorly in your favour. At Rutherford, learning, completing apprenticeships and degrees and going on courses are all a key part of being an employee here, so if you're willing to learn new things then Rutherford is perfect for you. Honesty is another one, making sure you are honest about your achievements is key. This is especially true when it comes down to your CV! Don't sugar coat any qualification, achievement or hobby as when it comes to the interview the interviewer will have already done their research on you. Of course make your CV look impressive and include all you accolades and achievements but making sure you are completely honest about them is key. And finally I'd say just be yourself, you are amazing and being you and true to yourself is all that really matters. If at the end of the day it doesn't work, try and try again!