Alexandra Turner, Regional Sales Engineer at Alfa Laval recently accepted an incredible opportunity to move to Melbourne at the end of the year with Alfa Laval Oceania.
Alexandra said she is very much looking forward to a brand new challenge and to see a part of the world which had been on her bucket list for quite some time!
I’ve had all kinds of feelings the past few weeks, mainly of excitement and gratefulness
Alexandra Turner, Alfa Laval
We sat down with Alexandra to talk through her Sales apprenticeship and how she sees her career path developing over the next 5 years.
What aspect of your apprenticeship has expanded you capability most?
Having a dedicated learning coach and mentor there to help and encourage you throughout. The course would have been completely different (and quite frankly not as effective or fun) without mine.
What has been the most challenging aspect of the learning journey?
Balancing travelling for work/long working days with submitting coursework on time.
You are making an exciting career choice now, so how do you see your career path developing over the next 5 years?
Hopefully I’ll be manager by then! I’m hoping with the additional knowledge gained in working in a different country and covering a much bigger territory will grant me access to a managerial role in 5 or less years’ time.
What advice would you give to someone like yourself considering an apprenticeship?
Education is fundamental for growth. If you want to improve and reach your full potential one day, then pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is necessary. Learning new things and testing yourself is character building – you learn more about yourself, what you want and what you don’t want in life. Also, the feeling of completing the course is unmatched… almost addictive I’d say. Some people collect stamps, others collect certificates!
What could be done to make an apprenticeship even more tailored to the individual?
With this apprenticeship, there were opportunities where instead of submitting a written piece of work I’d ask if I could present my answer via Powerpoint over a videocall. I used to be really nervous when it came to presenting but the more I practice it’s just becoming second nature to me now. I even consider public speaking and presenting to be one of my strong points now! I think anywhere where you can tailor the delivery of your answers to your needs is super handy.
“Alex has thrown herself into her apprenticeship from the very beginning and therefore has done very well. She understands the concepts quickly and is able to show that she is incorporating the learning into her daily role by means of relevant examples. She is very professional as confirmed by quarterly reviews with her line manager and the success she has had in her career, a further example is being recruited for a well deserved and prestigious role in Australia. We wish her the very best for the future – she will go far.”
Barrie Sharpe, Learning & Development Coach
Read more below on Alexandra and how she was one of our 5 days of excellence ambassadors during National Apprenticeship Week 2022!
