Going back to class is paying off for Rav
MoTher-of-three rav Billan had a ‘ light- bulb’ moment when she decided she wanted a career change.
The 38-year-old from leicestershire had worked as a management accountant for 15 years but opted for a new direction after attending a leadership development course.
She was among the first people in Britain to enrol on a chartered manager degree apprenticeship ( CMda) with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
rav, who works as a business development manager for construction services firm acivico in Birmingham, had discussed her desire to switch careers with acivico chief executive Mike Gregson.
She says: ‘he told me to look at the CMda at aston University as acivico was going to be offering two places when it started.
‘Initially I dismissed the idea. I have a degree in accounting and law already. Plus, I thought, apprenticeships are for young people, right?
‘But I read through the course material and this one at aston University was perfect for someone like me who wanted a new set of skills and a fresh career path.
‘I have always admired the CMI and one of my goals as part of my career change was to gain chartered manager status.’ rav embarked on the apprenticeship in 2016 and is due to finish next year. She says: ‘I have learnt management theories and techniques that I hadn’t heard of before and have been able to put some of them into practice straight away.
‘Being able to use real life examples in my coursework has been helpful, as it allowed me to view a scenario from a position that I have not been able to do before.’
rav, whose husband, Kul Singh, 38, is an account manager, believes the qualification will help her progress further.
She recommends career changes, but stresses it may mean starting at the ‘bottom rung’ again.
She adds: ‘Skillsets are required to facilitate that change and a degree apprenticeship is a perfect mechanism to achieve this.
‘employers shouldn’t just think of apprentices as being young talent, but should use the CMda as a tool to retrain staff who wish to stretch themselves and stay within their organisations.’