Lee Cooper-Baddeley - My Apprenticeship Journey

My Apprenticeship Journey – Lee Cooper-Baddeley

Apprenticeships seem a lot more complicated than they are. Admittedly, I was always sceptical about the idea of an apprenticeship, solely because of the wage attached to it. How could I afford to live my life? Not an easy decision to make, hence the reason I held off on the idea for such a long time. How did I go from having these negative perceptions to finally biting the bullet?

A little about me, my name is Lee Cooper-Baddeley and I am 27 years old. I am a Junior Service Manager currently 7 months into a Level 3 Microsoft Data Essentials Apprenticeship here at Worldline. My journey so far consists of me completing my A-Levels, a year at college followed by 7 years in retail management, and another year completing a separate qualification at college. To say life is full of uncertainty would be an understatement. In all honesty, I have no clue what my future looks like. To take a wild guess today I would probably go with, a long career at Worldline. A midlife crisis into becoming a teacher and one day for sure, a foster carer. Who knows?

How did I get here? As I mentioned previously, I spent 7 years in Retail management. I loved my job and the people there which is the reason I wasted so much time. I say wasted solely because of the values of the company I worked for. I always knew I had no intentions of progressing in that role as the steps were so limited. Initially, I started as a teen working with 4 friends that I have known for years. Not a bad start to a career if you ask me. Fast forward a couple of years and the first bolt of lightning hits me, two managers from other stores pull me into the office and suspend me for liking a post on TikTok of my friend jump scaring me whilst at work. Harmless in my view but understandable from a business perspective. Safe to say I continued my career for a few more years or else the story ends here. The next few years, my mentor left, covid-19 happens, 3 managers come and go and I start working endless hours because nobody else seems to care. Eventually, I speak to my district manager and express my desire to shadow the accounts team in Warwick on my days off. So I go back to college and start my AAT qualification and nothing happens. By this point, most of the people I work with have either left or retired meaning there are so many new faces, this is my time to move on. Despite being offered a promotion this would not change my mind so I decided to pass. I decided to start applying for apprenticeships.

This leads me to now. I am 7 months in with a whole new career to match, a corporate world and a bunch of new responsibilities. I’m a firm believer that more responsibility makes you a better person. Happier, I guess that’s up for debate. At the beginning of the apprenticeship, we were constantly told to ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish’. Perfect, something I can definitely get behind as I don’t do serious all too well and I love being foolish. So where do I begin? In 7 months I have been fortunate enough to be involved in so many different opportunities. Getting to know my fellow apprentices, meeting my mentors, driving to new places, being a part of the Charity and Communities Group, and Cycling 200+ km from one coast to another raising money for an amazing Charity. It has been an amazing experience in such a short amount of time and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

My hope is to continue this insane journey, following in the footsteps of my mentors and doing great things that I am passionate about. Who knows, maybe even mentor my own apprentice one day. This may be a little biased, but I think I’d be pretty good at it. I will continue to get involved in the endless opportunities I am surrounded by and will continue to volunteer and raise money for those who are less fortunate. ?I am so grateful to be in this position and would recommend it to anyone who is unsure of their future or what comes next. An apprenticeship has opened my eyes to so many opportunities, I was once an outsider looking in and now here I am. Take a leap and trust the process because I am sure whatever happens, It will be an incredible journey!