Social Value Apprentice Honey Marland is just starting out in her first sustainability role

I left college in 2023 with three A Levels at ABC and went straight into work. I tried to obtain an apprenticeship after college, but after being rejected numerous times, I decided to enter full time work. I started as an Administration Assistant at a food distribution company. If I’m honest, I didn’t enjoy it and I knew that this wasn’t the industry for me. After six months, my contract ended, and I began looking for an apprenticeship starting in 2024. In the meantime, I worked as a waitress at a local café, until I was successful with my application to Mace. Mace is a global construction and consultancy firm, and I became their new Social Value Apprentice.

Each role I have held has taught me different skills and new work insights. People think a person’s career path should be linear but for many it has its ups and downs.

At school, I studied nine GCSEs, however COVID meant I didn’t sit exams. Instead, I was given Teacher Assessed Grades in early May of 2021, which luckily reflected my predicted grades quite well! In September that year I went onto study at Greenhead College in Huddersfield and my subjects were Law, Sociology and Psychology. I obtained ABC at A Level and gained many valuable skills from my time at college.

I knew I didn’t want to do any more full-time study after college, so I started applying for apprenticeships that fitted my subjects but actually, my college subjects aren’t relevant to my role now. However, the transferable skills I learnt whilst I was studying my courses, I use every day. For example, attention to detail and precision are a key aspect of studying A Level Law, and despite not going into law, now I use those skills to produce accurate data as well as clean and precise presentations for clients.

When I was looking for my apprenticeship, I used multiple platforms including Not Going to Uni, Rate my Apprenticeship, LinkedIn and the government’s apprenticeship website. I also relied on support from the Social Mobility Foundation, which is a free scheme. They are mainly university focused but do offer sessions on key skills and types of apprenticeships.

When choosing my apprenticeship, I looked for roles that reflected my own values. For example, I wanted to go into a career that helped others, so I specified my searches down to areas that reflected that. I also considered the length of study and what study would look like at each company. Some organisations give you a full day per week to focus on your course, whereas others give you an hour a day. Rather than just looking at what the job is and its qualification, I would advise people to look at whether the company and role suits you as a person. You’re potentially giving them four years of your time – it’s important to get it right.

I love the variety of my job and the range of different areas that Social Value covers. Social Value sits within ESG – the environment, social aspects, and governance. This can cover anything from community engagement like volunteering, to making sure that our clients try to spend with Social Enterprise businesses. It is a relatively new area, (I didn’t know it existed till I applied!), but it’s so important to ensuring construction is done in the most ethical and sustainable way. Some of the clients I work with include Manchester Airport, Stockport City Council, and E.ON Energy. Overall, I feel I’m definitely making a difference – I know that the work I do with my clients creates a positive difference to the lives of employees and local communities.

Construction is incredibly fast paced, which means I am learning new skills and behaviours very quickly. The construction industry is always changing as we try to make sure we’re creating a sustainable future. That means there are lots of opportunities in the area. At Mace, many teams work in collaboration with each other, which I find really interesting, and it helps me to make new professional connections. Overall, construction isn’t just roles like being a bricklayer or a carpenter. There are so many other work areas to find out about.