Entries categorized as ‘Graduate Apprentice’
Sometime ago I agreed to run the Birmingham Half Marathon which is taking place this Sunday, the 26th October. The 26th also happens to be my birthday, so I’m hoping for some birthday luck to get me around the 13.1 mile route. I’m not unfit, I like to keep active, and clearly with LEJOG next year, I’m already in training. I also took rowing pretty seriously while at Durham, which gave me a good fitness base.
However, the last few weeks have been busier than ever before, and training has been hard. Please don’t see this as an excuse, I will, without a doubt, complete the route, but I get the feeling it is going to be harder than I had hoped!
Either way, I am going to be running as part of the Birmingham Future team for the Birmingham Foundation, and am hoping to raise as much money as possible for this very worthwhile cause. So while I sweat and cry my way around the route, please think of me on a Sunday morning while you enjoy your extra hour.
Categories: Graduate Apprentice
Friday brought about my final day with Stef, which being my third placement as the Apprentice, also marked my final day as the 2007 Graduate Apprentice. Its been a long year, but a truly fantastic one, which has completely gone beyond all of my initial expectations.
I had two fantastic placements with Deloitte and LMM, and now can look back on what was another brilliant experience. During the sixteen weeks with Stef, I worked on a huge range of projects, getting involved in the Big City Plan, working on Digital Media events as well as working with clients of 3Form. However, the main project was Stef’s new idea, Odadeo. Odadeo is all about Dads, its social network with a difference. Highly interactive and highly useful, I have been working with the beta testing Dads for the last few weeks, finding out what they want from the site, how they use it, and then turning it into development points for Stef to work on. I’ve been writing legal documents, been coming up with ideas for our pitch, and recently, making video walkthroughs of various features, so that new users can see what the site is all about.
I’m very sad to be leaving Odadeo, I truly do think that its a fantastic idea, which will take off. I hope to look back at the project in a few months and say that I was a part of it. It could be the next big thing on the web.
But more than that, I have worked from Stef’s home over the last four months, and I’m thankful that Emily, Imogen and Stef allowed me into their home. I have learnt so much, much more than I could have imagined that I would. At times the work has been varied and difficult, but at all times its been the challenge and experience that I expected as the Graduate Apprentice. Stef is a unique individual, creating ideas from nothing, and it was great to be part of that process. I am sure that I am a more creative individual because of it.
I now head back to Deloitte, to being my life as a International Tax Associate. I worked in the same department as the Apprentice, which is why I am sure that there will be people around to help me settle back in.
Looking back on my year as the Graduate Apprentice is tough to do, I still haven’t quite come to terms with the fact that its no longer my role but I can say this. As a new Graduate last June, I was lost, unsure of a career path and lacking direction. I assumed that something would come up… well it did. The Apprentice has given me a diverse range of business experience, its shown me career paths I never knew existed and taught me how to go about achieving what I want from life. But more than that, I have had a year working with absolutely fantastic people, both directly and indirectly. I have met people who are going to be key in the city for many years to come, and my hope is that I can also play my role in the years to come. To my employers, Deloitte, LMM, and Odadeo, thank you. There are too many individuals to mention, but I will be taking the time to individually email them all.
So here’s to looking forward, and a new daily motto, Challenge Yourself… something I aim to do every day.
Categories: Graduate Apprentice
Tagged: Apprentice, Deloitte, Graduate, Graduate Apprentice, jason Norris, LMM, Odadeo
This week is my final week with Stef at Odadeo, and as such, the final week as the Graduate Apprentice. Mayur, who was selected back in June will soon be taking over the role, and I wish him the very best of luck. The scheme is an amazing opportunity, and I have complete confidence that Mayur will take it to new levels.
There was an article in Tuesday’s post about the Apprentice, marking the beginning of Mayur’s year.
Categories: Birmingham Future · Graduate Apprentice
Tagged: Birmingham Post, birminghamuk, Graduate Apprentice, Mayur Murali
Its my last week as the Apprentice with Stef, meaning that my work with the new Dad’s Site, Odadeo, is soon to be over. On of the final things that I’m working on are videos of all of the features on the site. Using some cool software to record my actions on screen (iShowU) and Vimeo as the host for our videos, we are soon to have a collection of short videos showing existing and potential users of the site what they can do. I have even been techically able enough to embed the videos into the Odadeo Blog, and wanted to do the same here!
So take a look at the below, its how you make a pledge towards being a better Dad on Odadeo. Its simple, and its short, but it could just be the next big thing.
Odadeo – Making a pledge from Odadeo Dads on Vimeo.
Categories: Graduate Apprentice
Tagged: Dads, ishowu, Odadeo, pledges, vimeo
Being the Graduate Apprentice has been a unique, incredible experience, and one that has given me a fantastic opportunity to go on and achieve success. Using 5alist, Stef and Andrew’s most recent creation, I have attempted to list the top five things about the role I am about to hand on to Mayur.
Make your own Top 5 list on 5alist
Categories: Graduate Apprentice · Personal
Tagged: 5ALIST, Andrew Dubber, Graduate Apprentice, Mayur, Stef
As part of my new role with Birmingham Future’s Membership Committee, I had the pleasure of attending the most recent new members lunch today. The event is designed for all of the new members to Birmingham Future in the previous few months, basically a chance to meet some new faces over some sandwiches. Matt Taylor, the Birmingham Future chair took five minutes to welcome everyone to the event and tell us about some of the things that the organisation are involved with under his reign. It was a very well attended event, with about 40 people there, and was very kindly hosted by KPMG.
I met some great people who have just joined Future, and hopefully after hearing about the rather hectic but fantastic year that I have had, they will be keen to become a little more involved with what Future do. My time as the Apprentice is almost at an end, but I will be continuing on the GIE committee and now as deputy chair of the membership committee, Birmingham Future is very much part of my involvement within the city.
There are some key reasons for that, but perhaps the most prominent is the people that I get to meet and work with. I have expanded my contact book beyond all belief this year, not only people that may be useful as a source of business in years to come, but people that I know I can call upon for their advice should the time come. I’m going to be taking part in the Birmingham Half Marathon as part of the Future team just one example of the range of activities you can get involved with. I have high aspirations, which are driven by being part of the city. It if was not for Future, then I would actually be without a job… but the fact that eight or so people sat around a table 18 months ago, gave up their free time and effort and continued to run what is a fantastic opportunity for any Graduate, means that I now have a future to look forward to… excuse the pun.
So if you are reading this and you are not involved in Birmingham Future, but you think that it could be the right way to get ahead in your career and be part of this fantastic city, then I am here to tell you that assumption is correct! Find out a little more about what they do at their website… or drop me an email.
Categories: Birmingham Future · Birmingham UK · Graduate Apprentice · Graduates Into Employment · Membership Team
Tagged: 29th July, Birmingham Future, birminghamuk, GIE Committee, Graduate Apprentice, KPMG, new members lunch
Sitting on the balcony on a summer’s evening is a great way to contemplate how far things have progressed this year. I began my role as the Graduate Apprentice 2007 back on the 17th September of last year, and almost 11 months later, its time to begin thinking about handing on the role. With that, I have been thinking a lot about the time that I have had, the things I’ve learnt this year, and importantly, the fantastic people that have helped me to embed myself within this fantastic city. There will be a further blog post later on, once I’ve had time to evaluate everything that has happened, and to thank each individual concerned.
But right now, its time to introduce the next Apprentice, Mayur Murali. Mayur was selected back in June, after an extremely tough interview process. He instantly accepted the role, and I have every confidence that he is going to take this fantastic opportunity to even greater heights. I wish him the very best of luck in what I know will be a truly amazing year.
So below please meet the team for the Graduate Apprentice 2008. Mayur will be undertaking placements with Deloitte, in the same team that I will be re-joining as a full time Graduate. He will then move on to work with Giles and the team at LMM, where there are some more challenging projects lined up for him. Finally, Mayur will work with the new placement, VC Consulting, who we are thrilled to have as part of the set up. Much like me, there are three very seperate challenges, where I know he will be given a fantastic insight into the professional services world. Pictured below (left to right) are: Shihab Hossain, VC Consulting Director, Rachel Hewson of Deloitte, Giles Horwitch-Smith, CEO of LMM and Mayur himself.
Mayur will be continuing the trend of blogging his experience as the Graduate Apprentice, but right now, you can read a little more about how he reacted to being offered the role.
For me, with about five weeks left, its time to begin thinking about what next… who am I, what is my next challenge…
Categories: Birmingham Future · Graduate Apprentice · Graduates Into Employment
Tagged: Apprentice, Deloitte, Giles Horwitch-Smith, Graduate Apprentice 2008, LMM, Mayur Muralli, Rachel Hewson, Shihab Hossain, VC Consulting
As is probably quite clear to everyone reading the blog, the Apprentice programme is something that I am passionate about. The opportunity it has given me is unrivaled and has put me in an incredible position to go on and achieve a lot within this great city.
As my time as the Apprentice draws to an end, its time to start reflecting on the fantastic year that I’ve had, and to start talking about the programme. I had one such opportunity with Biz TV recently, part of the Aston University set-up. They were kind enough to interview about how I got the role, my three placements and my plans going forward. Please take a look at the link below to hear me talk about my time.
Jason Norris as the Graduate Apprentice
Categories: Graduate Apprentice · Graduates Into Employment
Tagged: 3Form, Apprentice, birminghamuk, biz tv, Deloitte, Graduate Apprentice, jason Norris, LMM
Last night I attended another event linked to my role as the Apprentice. This one was however, a little more social. A Birmingham Future friend of mine, David Neale, is soon to be climbing the Matterhorn, one of the toughest challenges that any human has ever undertaken. David is doing this in aid of SENSE, the national deaf blind charity, who do fantastic work all over the country but are not that well known.
Scary stats are that 1 in 10 people over the age of 60 are deaf-blind, with many of them not knowing it, so chances are that it affects someone in your family. So last night David held a charity auction and raffle to raise some money for this fantastic cause, and it was a great evening to be part of. Laura and I even won a spa day at Hotel-Du-Vin as part of the business card raffle! To provide entertainment for the evening, David gave us a demonstration of his skills by abseiling through the open roof at Hotel-Du-Vin… photo below!
So take a look at David’s Blog, at the work that SENSE do, and maybe even donate a few pounds to help him raise as much as possible. David starts his challenge in nine days time, and I wish him the very best of luck.
Categories: Birmingham Future · Graduate Apprentice
Tagged: Birmingham Future, birminghamuk, david neale, matterhorn, charity, fundraising, hotel du vin, SENSE, deafblind, climb
There are some points during my year as the Graduate Apprentice where I have had the opportunity to begin giving something back to the fantastic Birmingham Community that has welcomed me with such open arms. This morning, I was invited to speak about my role as the Apprentice as part of a breakfast with Graduates and employers. Its organised by Clarke Associates and Graduate Advantage, with breakfast provided this morning by the fantastic Hogarths Hotel. It was a very rare occasion in-fact, the two groups mixing when neither of them were trying to recruit… a very refreshing alternative.
I had to follow Anthony McCourt, one of my mentors, and the current Birmingham Young Professional of the Year, and boy is he a tough act to follow. Firstly, he is only a year older than me, but he has achieved an incredible amount, but secondly and importantly, he is a fantastic advocate of the city, and much like me, having moved to Birmingham from outside, is now a fully fledged ‘adopted Brummie’.
But this morning was all about the Graduates at the event, all of them who were keen to find out how they can begin to build their personal brand, and about how they can find a job within the city that they really enjoy. Just by being there, they were already taking one step on this journey, and I was truly humbled to be there and talk about my journey so far. I was delighted that they listened, and I hope that some of them found what I said useful.
So my year as the Apprentice is almost coming to an end… but there is a lot more I plan to do yet. Its event’s like this morning make it all worthwhile, where I really feel proud to be part of this fantastic city.
Categories: Birmingham Future · Graduate Apprentice
Tagged: Activ8 graduates, Anthony McCourt, Apprentice, Birmingham Future, birminghamuk, BYPY, clarke associates, graduate advantage, Graduate Apprentice, hogarths, jason Norris
