My rollercoaster ride to becoming a Tangerine

What a ride. I don’t even know where to start. After a frantic week, I find myself at my desk at Tangerine Towers, 3 hours into my Tangerine life.

What happened in the past week is somewhat of a blur, but it has been a week that has changed my life.

Let’s backtrack to Friday 27th January. I sit at my laptop at home, making the most of my day off before I resume work in the Café at Sainsbury’s, making coffee all day for the fine folk of my hometown, Salford.

After leaving The University of Salford last year, I found myself searching for opportunities in the media industry, looking for something exciting and vibrant to kick-start my career after a poor experience of higher education. I am a big advocate of taking the apprenticeship route, as the industry becomes more focused on actual experience of work in an agency, compared to a degree.

I’ve always been aware of the services of www.apprenticeships.org.uk so I thought I’d have a look to see if there were any opportunities on offer in the New Year.

I began scrolling through the website, adding media as my keyword, before stumbling across a ‘Juice Academy’ advert looking for a Social Media Apprentice. My eyes lit up, I sensed the opportunity.

Looking at the details of the application, I saw the deadline was 5pm; I began to scramble to ensure I applied in time.

The application itself was an enjoyable, unique process, asking for me to discuss my favourite brand and to describe myself in 140 characters.

I completed the tasks and sent off my application, thinking about all possible scenarios of what the future could hold for me.

Fast forward to Tuesday 28th January. I had just had a fun-filled weekend of work at Sainsbury’s and I was ready for my next shift on Wednesday. Oh, the life.

I refreshed my emails on my phone to find I had been successful in my application. I was invited to ‘Boot Camp’ on Wednesday. What am I going to tell Sainsbury’s, I thought. I was consumed with excitement as I managed to find cover for my shift, before starting to prepare and think about the task at hand on Wednesday.

Boot Camp was like no other job interview I had ever imagined. It was a fantastic and unique way of talking to employers and showcasing your skills to them.

The variety of tasks was wonderful and it was great to feel valued as a candidate as everyone worked hard to put themselves forward for the coveted apprenticeships that were on offer.

I did all I could and sat down for the nervous wait as the judges congregated in the Board Room to make their decisions. Very ‘Apprentice’ like, what a fantastic experience it was.

After a tense 45 minute wait, my number was called. I took a short walk downstairs into ‘Gander’ and I was greeted by Jo and Martin from Tangerine. I had done it.

I was offered the role of Social Media Apprentice at Tangerine PR; words cannot describe how I felt at being offered such a fantastic opportunity.

I was taken down to The Juice Academy to complete the formalities, before I began the short walk across to Sainsbury’s to hand in my resignation.

So now here I am a new member of the Tangerine family and how delighted I am to be here!

Hopefully this rollercoaster is just the start of a ‘Fruitful’ (excuse the pun) Tangerine life.