Case study: Meet Kerry

Kerry is currently completing the Business Analyst Apprenticeship programme and shares her experience.

Can you tell me a bit about your role?

“I’m a Business Analyst for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS), but have only been officially working in this role since March. Before then, I was working as a project administrator.”

How did you get into your current role?

“I spent many years as a Project Administrator, but when a role in a new department opened up and an external BA was employed, I realised everything they were doing as a BA used skills I had built up over the years and suddenly my future career path identified itself.

Somebody then suggested looking at BA apprenticeships, as it’s a good way to shape skills on your CV.

Working with the HR team apprenticeship leads and following our procurement rules, we researched BA apprenticeship providers and narrowed it down to two suppliers. It seemed Metadata would offer much more flexibility to shape the apprenticeship to suit my needs than the other provider, so we decided to go ahead with them.

When the need for a BA role came up in the HR department of my organisation it was suggested that I go for it as a development opportunity. After an interview process I was successfully appointed on a 2 year secondment, in a development capacity, and I am loving the challenges that this BA role is bringing me.”

How have you found working with Metadata Training?

“Contact with my mentor has been great – sometimes we speak daily, and sometimes only once every couple of weeks. I know that if I have any BA query at all, I can email Mike and he will always come back with advice quickly. The expertise from Metadata has been absolutely brilliant, I couldn’t fault it.”

What would you say to somebody considering a Business Analyst Apprenticeship?

“If you find the right supplier, it’s brilliant but it’s much more intense than you realise. It’s a big commitment but it’s definitely worthwhile if you’re considering it. There’s no way without the apprenticeship I would have been able to align my skill set with my CV.”

How has your apprenticeship impacted your career?

“BA work as an Administrator was to help out busy team members but while my skills were recognised, I was restricted in being able to move my career forward formally. I felt I was basically just a minute taker picking BA type work up for fun.

Now, as a BA, I use the skills I have learnt during my apprenticeship to identify and analyse problems and inefficient processes, find ways to resolve these problems and, working alongside PMO project guidelines, set realistic timeframes to ensure these problems are resolved on time, on budget and in scope, with the aim to bring in more efficient working processes for my team and organisation.”