How to become an award-winning apprentice (and do your bit to promote the profession)

Charlotte Bethell, APM’s Apprentice of the Year, works at Sellafield nuclear decommissioning site. She tells Charles Orton-Jones the secrets to her success.

Charlotte Bethell completed her four-year project management programme at nuclear decommissioning site Sellafield in September, and is now working on the projects that will build the infrastructure to take the nuclear waste from its ponds and silos and make it safe for long-term storage.

“For me, the great thing about the apprenticeship programme at Sellafield is that you get to try so many different things, like project controls, risk and planning. Doing that while being able to continue at university and get a degree has been fantastic,” says Bethell.

She’s still only 23, but in theory her future children’s children’s children could follow her into the plant. “From a job-security perspective, it’s brilliant!” she says of her career in nuclear. She’s from Whitehaven and says, “I think it’s uncommon to find a family in West Cumbria without at least one family member who’s worked at Sellafield.”

Bethell makes Sellafield sound an ideal place to work long term. She’s a natural enthusiast: energetic, brimming with ideas and anecdotes, and extremely complimentary about her employer. Which isn’t surprising given her start to working life.

An advocate at every level

She won Apprentice of the Year at APM’s Festival of Education Research Awards 2022. Judges noted not only her professional strengths, but also her tireless efforts to promote STEM careers and recruitment into the nuclear industry, for leading Sellafield’s response to a national charity appeal, and numerous extracurricular activities. She’s a mentor to apprentices. She sits on committees to improve working life at the plant. And she does all this with a quiet self-confidence. She has strong views on apprenticeships and why they are an undervalued option for teenagers. Her own experience is instructive.

“I attended a number of careers fairs when I was at school and college,” she explains. “Sellafield wasn’t somewhere I’d initially considered. I looked into what sort of apprenticeship schemes were on offer, but I’m not a very hands-on sort of person, so craft apprenticeships didn’t appeal. Project management wasn’t something I knew much about. A family friend of mine worked at Sellafield as a project manager, so I got in touch about work experience and did three days on the main site. It confirmed I did want to work in project management, as no two days are the same. We’d share a car to work and talk about what we were going to do in the day and never get to the end of the list as there was so much going on.”

Academic honours

Bethell today is vocal about the need to get into schools early to explain what life as a project manager involves, and how an apprenticeship is a strong way to start. “The traditional route is to go to school or college, then university,” she says. “But an apprenticeship means you can earn while you are still learning. You can get a university degree while getting real life experience.” Bethell began her degree in project management at the University of Cumbria while in her second year of apprenticeship at Sellafield. She received First Class Honours and was awarded the Ede & Ravenscroft prize for academic excellence. She also passed her APM Level D exam with an 88% mark. Her motivation to study was sky high, knowing she’d be using her skills immediately when she went back to her apprenticeship placement.

Sellafield also deserves plaudits for the way apprentices are taught. Bethell moved between multiple roles: projects, construction, commissioning, pre-operations and risk. She worked on mission-critical operations, such as a huge public-private partnership contract, which was new at the time for Sellafield.

The quality of her experience moved her to promote apprenticeships via schemes such as the Nuclear Institute’s Young Generation Event, and to mentor the current cohort of apprentices. “If I can help, I do,” she says. “I visited one of our satellite offices recently and noticed a young girl behind me. I asked, ‘Are you in project management?’, she said ‘Yes’, so I explained I’d just finished the scheme and said, ‘If you need any help then ask me’, and from there we’ve stayed in touch.”

Making up for lockdowns

Bethell stresses how important this is, as the current cohort will have spent much of the past two years in COVID-19 lockdowns, robbing them of normal human interaction. “I can’t imagine how difficult that would have been,” she says. “I’ve got a fantastic relationship with the rest of my cohort. We will remain friends and contacts for years.”

She is an example of how energy and talent can be focused by the right guidance at the start of a career. Her apprenticeship, combined with a degree and APM qualifications, have given her a flying start. She is now enrolled in Sellafield’s APM‑accredited project management career path, and says her aspiration is to become a chartered project manager with APM. She’s also going to learn more about running the plant that will help the UK generate carbon-free energy. “I don’t want to say I’ll absolutely definitely stay at Sellafield and never move out of West Cumbria,” she says. “But working here, there are so many good opportunities. Do you want to leave that behind?” For teenagers thinking about what career to embark on, hers is a pretty good example to follow.

Charlotte Bethell’s five top tips for success

1. Show commitment and get involved

It’s important to say ‘Yes’ to any opportunities and new experiences. If there’s a chance to attend events, then go. For me, my university course and apprenticeship were amazing, but there are so many other things to get involved in. For example, I got involved in Sellafield’s Manifesto cultural workshop, which looks at how the values and guiding principles are embedded in our organisation. I am also involved in my current project’s diversity and inclusion sessions, which look at how to raise awareness of issues and make improvements.

2. Be ready to challenge

Apprentices bring a fresh pair of eyes on the job. Make use of that. There’s no reason why an apprentice can’t challenge colleagues if they think there is a more suitable way of doing things. Also be prepared to ask questions – even stupid questions. This is particularly true if something doesn’t seem quite right to you; you are well within your rights to speak up and say so. We’ve seen that at Sellafield, when an apprentice has challenged something and made a worthwhile contribution. There is a preconception that apprentices are still learning on the job, but my view is they have an awful lot to say.

3. Get good at networking

It is so important to make connections and build a support network. There are lots of events to attend. At Sellafield there are open-invitation forums with guest speakers. These are a great way to network with new people, or rekindle relationships from previous placements. I personally find it really useful to build up a support network, so if I ever need to shout out for help, there are people I can rely on.

4. Always be thinking: ‘What next?’

What drove me through my apprenticeship was a very defined path. I started with my Level D to complete, then my Trailblazer, then an end-point assessment, then I had university studies. I always had a goal in mind. When the apprenticeship finishes, you are in the big wide world and suddenly it’s up to you to determine how far you want to push yourself. So, ask: ‘What next?’ and set yourself SMART goals to pursue what you want. I look at my goals for the next six months, and also five to 10 years. Career paths are about thinking: ‘What next?’ and engaging in continuous improvement to get there.

5. Mentor, and be mentored

At Sellafield we were given a mentor as part of the project management capability. It’s usually someone from a different part of the business, whom you haven’t met before. It’s really useful to sound off ideas with them, to ask questions. I think it’s important to have a mentor you can turn to. Even just asking for feedback after a project, as you’ll get useful information. Something I want to get involved in is reverse mentoring. There are numerous case studies of how good this can be. We had someone from our BAME community reverse mentoring an executive, and the mentee said the experience opened their eyes and made them a more rounded person.

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE Summer 2022 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.