Ysabela Dalumpines, a service delivery engineer within the Shared Regulatory Services (SRS) at Torfaen County Borough Council, has found an increased confidence in her job thanks to an apprenticeship with ALS.
Ysabela works on the helpdesk as the first point of contact for the SRS and has recently completed a Level 4 diploma in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals.
“The course and the units within it were highly applicable to my job role,” Ysabela explained. “I’ve gained new skills and knowledge in professional ethics and legislative awareness, and personal development.
“It’s helped me boost my consulting skills and I can offer expert advice to customers regarding their issues and requests. It’s also helped me build strong relationships with customers and improve service delivery by providing suggestions to my line managers.”
Ysabela credits the qualification for not only advancing her career but also fostering her personal growth. After completing the course, she then qualified to move up the grade scale, increasing her earning potential and boosting her confidence and productivity in work.
Talking about ALS as an apprenticeship provider, Ysabela said: “My assessor Gareth Davies supported me every step of the way during the programme. Any time I was struggling to understand the unit criteria or if I had questions regarding evidence collection, he was able to answer and clarify everything. I was able to complete the coursework to a good standard through his help.
“My employer TCBC – SRS provided me with the time to complete my coursework during work hours. They also supported me with any queries regarding evidence collection as well as providing opportunities for me to gather the required workplace evidence.”
Speaking about work-based learning and the possible barriers to upskilling potential learners may face, Ysabela said: “I think the issue is that some organisations don’t have proper support in place to help people with continuous professional development or they do not advertise these opportunities well enough for people to participate.”
Despite some challenges, Ysabela is keen to recommend an apprenticeship to others, adding: “It will be hard to balance working and completing a course all at the same time, but the result is rewarding as you’ll receive a qualification at the end which is extremely helpful for your own personal growth.
“My best advice would be to choose your course carefully. Make sure you’ve had a discussion with your employer to see if they can support you, especially when you need to gather workplace evidence or attend lessons in person.”