Jamie Garrett - apprenticeship case study 

I joined Invotra as a software development apprentice in December 2013. I’d always loved computers and enjoy trouble shooting so it was a good fit for me. I was a bit nervous when I first joined, as it was my first office job, after previously being a data engineer at the London 2012 Olympics. I started off in the client services team, and progressed quickly; within three weeks I was looking after eight clients, which wasn’t planned but it was a great learning experience, and I was well supported by the team.

I finished my apprenticeship in 12 months, and thought the quality of the course was really good. I didn’t have any previous coding knowledge, so that part was particularly challenging, but I finished with a majority of distinctions. One thing I found helpful was talking to our technical team about anything I was having trouble with in my coursework. I was really grateful for that, and probably wouldn’t have had the chance to do so if I hadn’t chosen an apprenticeship over university.

In 2014, I joined the QA team. My role and responsibilities included environment testing for our customer, the Home Office. Following this, I created and led a Learning and Development team and created training programmes for our customers. I was passionate about taking this on so that our customers felt trained and supported throughout their journeys with us. 

Jumping ahead to 2016, we created an Accounts Team, and I was offered the opportunity to lead it. I jumped at the challenge and settled into the role really quickly. My responsibilities included looking after all of our customers including our large central government clients such as the Home Office, Department for Work & Pensions and Department for Transport. 

In 2018, I made the decision to further progress my education by seeking to gain a Chartered Management Degree. It’s a 36 month course and I’m roughly 16 months in. 

I have continued on in the role of Key Accounts Manager for the past few years, however, in 2019, I’m now also leading our UK sales team. I enjoy focusing on landing new sales, however, it’s still hugely important to me to help our existing customers in any way that I can. 

One of the things that I am proudest of in terms of my career to date is being offered a role within Invotra’s Senior Management Team. It’s great to know I will be playing a pivotal role in the future success of our organisation. 

I see my next goal as getting onto the board of directors and the way things are going, I’m confident that I will one day achieve my ambitions.