Meet the Team: Victoria Taylor

ClarkeWood's 'Meet the Team' series is well underway now and here is our third installment!

Today we will be basing our blog post on Victoria!

Victoria Taylor

Victoria.Taylor@clarkewoodconsulting.com

Describe yourself in a few words:
Fiercely independent, ambitious, considerate and easy going.


Victoria, 26, has been working at ClarkeWood Consulting for just over 18 months. Victoria sources Open Source, Marketing, Business Analyst and Project Management staff mainly in Worcestershire and the West Midlands.


What is your biggest professional achievement?
Setting up ClarkeWood's CSR strategy and helping to raise thousands for local causes over the last 12 months.


As Victoria said, she is a considerate person and this certainly shows in her charity efforts! She has arranged all of our charity events and is always thinking of new, fun and creative ways to make money for local causes. In her latest project, Victoria has used an existing bond with Dolphin Computer Access and a newly formed relationship with Sight Concern to encourage volunteers to help teach visually impaired people to use a computer.

Victoria also supports a charity in Guatemala called 'Education for the Children'  (www.eftc.org.uk/)  She is 'Godparent' to two children out there called Betty and Jorge who are both seven. She recently went out to visit them both in Guatemala!



What is your biggest personal achievement?
Gaining my skippers and diving qualifications


When Victoria isn't hard at work or helping charities she enjoys diving and horse riding. (which is why she has been dubbed the 'posh' one at ClarkeWood!) Victoria also has a big interest in fine Red and White wine and food. Her favourite feasts are seafood - especially shellfish - as well as Cheese and preferred drinks are Tia Maria and Port. When eating out she enjoys the restaurants: Loves in Birmingham and The Jolly Frog in Leintwardine.


How would your colleagues describe you?

Well what can we say about the “Posh bird” in the office?

Victoria believes in the smart appearance, smart mind philosophy of working. She's a professional in dealing with people and treats everybody equal.

Victoria throws herself into everything she does with 100% vigour and as the Companies head of CSR, she is always leading from the front whether it is jumping out of aircraft or other various charity activities we do.

Victoria is a dedicated member of the team BUT she also does know how to party!

So to sum up Victoria – Work hard Play Hard.

A Day in the Life of an Apprentice : Part 1

Last week saw the fantastic completion of

“100 Apprenticeships in 100 days”

Campaign. The campaign was run by the Worcester News, who more than doubled their target!

 After successfully recruiting an admin apprentice two years ago, ClarkeWood Consulting decided to once again get involved with the scheme and recruited two new superb apprentices.

 Ben Proctor –Sales, and Lauren Henley – Business Management and Administration.

ClarkeWood are strong advocates for companies becoming involved with apprenticeship schemes as well as encouraging young people to really consider their options and what an apprenticeship could mean for them.

With this is mind we have asked Lauren to interview Ben at the start of his journey, 3 months in as he settles and then again on completion of his 6 month, in the hope of gaining a real insight into what it’s like to be an apprentice.

To start off our series of apprentice blogs, we’d like to introduce you to Ben and Lauren by giving you an insight into what lead them to an apprenticeship and how they are initially finding it.

Lauren: In January, my year was planned and I knew exactly what I would be doing. Or so I thought. What is your background, and what were you doing 1 year ago?

Ben: I was just finishing my first year of studying Chemistry at the University of Glamorgan in Wales. During my time at university I worked part-time for a Students events company in Cardiff.

Lauren: A friend had just begun an Apprenticeship. I knew nothing about apprenticeships and wouldn’t have considered one. She loved it, and encouraged me to sign up. Did you have an opinion of Apprenticeships before you decided on one?

Ben: I had quite a good opinion actually. A few of my friends from high school had gone on to do apprenticeships and were really enjoying it; as well as earning good salaries!

Lauren: Being in full time education you seem to get filtered through School > College > University; feeling although it is the best and only option. How does learning on the job compare to being in full-time education and has it, so far, had a different impact on you?

Ben: Being in a working environment gives you more of a reason to get up each morning. Every Uni student can think of a time where they just really didn’t want to get up, be it for an 8:30 start or for the last lecture on a Friday!

Lauren: Now I’m starting to get into my apprenticeship, I’ve learnt that education isn’t always the answer. What is the most valuable thing you’ve learnt so far?

Ben: To be confident! If you are confident, people will believe in you and trust you. If you aren’t confident then it makes everything so much more difficult.

Lauren: My original plan was start a degree in Fashion Design. What are your goals for the future and how do you think your Apprenticeship has influenced that?

Ben: I’d love to get into the senior side of things, including management of my own team and patch... Time will tell how that works out!

Lauren: Finally, we both had similar situations which lead to us choosing an apprenticeship. What kind of person would you recommend an apprenticeship too?

Ben: I’d really recommend them to anyone who hasn’t completed a university course, or is looking for a complete change in career. There are so many different courses available, so there will be one suited for them.

                                                     

Now that you’ve had an introduction to our new recruits we will follow them up in three months time to see how they are getting on.

During our interviews with both Lauren and Ben we hope to give you a firsthand insight into their experiences allowing you to access a viewpoint otherwise unavailable.

We hope to highlight how beneficial the apprenticeships schemes can be for companies of any size as well as rewarding and encourage you too to consider becoming involved!