From Apprentice to Onboarding Manager

We sat down with Onboarding Manager Hannah Bodie, who has recently celebrated seven years at Castle Water. Hannah started her career as one of the first three people to join Castle Water’s Apprenticeship scheme. Hannah has since gone from strength to strength and is now leading the team she initially joined as Sales Apprentice back in 2017.

Tell us about your career so far at Castle Water

“It has been a really exciting experience working at Castle Water for the last seven years. After joining in 2017 as a Sales Apprentice, I am now the Onboarding Manager for the very first team I started my journey with.

I’ve also been fortunate to gain a degree in Business through the University of Dundee that I completed in partnership with my role here at Castle Water, who fully funded my qualification.”

What led you to apply for an apprenticeship with Castle Water?

“During my time at school, it was very much drilled into us that once you leave school your options are to go to University or College. Because I assumed this was the only path for me to build a career, I enrolled into a Business Management course at Dundee and Angus College. After six months I didn’t feel as though I was in an enriching environment, and I started to look for other opportunities.

I decided to apply for the Sales Apprenticeship role at Castle Water and was offered the position in June of 2017.”

Do you think you would have considered an apprenticeship if you knew it was an option during your schooling?

“I think its inspirational the work that Castle Water do with young people at school. If I had known about their apprenticeships while I was at school, I would have jumped at the chance to get one. It’s a great stepping stone going from full time education into full time work, and it allows you to continue your studies while still getting that workplace experience.”

What would you consider to be the benefits of being an apprentice?

“It was extremely beneficial having the experience of working full time while completing my studies. Not only will I achieve a degree in Business, but I have a deeper understanding of what we do day to day in my role at Castle Water. Being able to apply the relevant theory to the situation within my work has allowed me to better understand why we do things and how we can better help our customers.

I’m also a very hands-on learner and I need to be able to complete a task for myself in order to be able to retain the information, so the learning style of an apprenticeship really suited me in that way.”

What would you consider your most memorable moment from your time at Castle Water?

“My most memorable moment would have to be the success my team and I have had in Onboarding. In the last seven years I have Onboarded nearly 50,000 customers, ranging from SME’s and sole traders, right up to large public sector portfolios.”

If you could give your younger self once piece of advice what would it be?

“I would tell my younger self to stick with it. There are going to be moments that are really challenging, but all the hard work will be worth it in the end.

I know personally, there was a short period where I was worried that this wasn’t for me, and John and Karen Reynolds sat down with me and encouraged me to keep trying because there is a strong future for me here at Castle Water, and that meant a great deal to me.

They were absolutely right. Never in a million years would I have seen myself going from being an Apprentice to managing the team I started in, in just seven years. It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience.”

Do you consider yourself a successful example of what can be achieved via the apprenticeship route?

“I think I have been successful in going from being an Apprentice to now leading a sales team. I do think I am a really good example of what you can achieve if you decide to go down the apprenticeship route and take advantage of all the opportunities that come your way.

Can you tell us more about the Apprenticeships at Castle Water

“Castle Water offer a variety of apprenticeships to young people aged between 18 and 24 that they complete in tandem with their full-time work. We also offer Graduate Apprenticeships in partnership with the University of Dundee, to those that have completed their initial apprenticeship with Castle Water.

The scheme entails four years of study, where you will be expected to be on university campus for one day a week, with the other four days working in your day-to-day role at Castle Water.

We regularly have vacancies for Customer Service Apprenticeships and Business Administration Apprenticeships, where you will be able to gain a nationally recognised SVQ and earn while you learn.”

If you are interested in starting your journey with Castle Water, click here to find out more.