Meet Alice

‘When I left school, I was initially thinking of becoming a PE teacher, having studied PE, Sport, and Business at A-level. But when I started looking at universities, I started to feel like that path might not be the right thing for me. I needed a bit more structure to my learning and my Dad suggested I look at an apprenticeship and mentioned BAE Systems. I thought that there’d only be engineering apprenticeships available, which wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I quickly realised that there’s so much more on offer than engineering!

I applied for a degree apprenticeship in chartered management. Before the assessment centre interview I spent a long time learning about the business and all the different things we manufacture and provide. What appealed to me was the rotations – spending six months learning about one part of the business before moving on to another. I’ve worked in IT, procurement, finance, HR, and projects, which is so much more than if I’d just gone straight into a job. Plus I had one day a week for my degree studies which was being fully funded for me, and at the end of the apprenticeship there were five jobs for me to choose from. The apprenticeship was a great way to learn more about what kind of work I like to do and which topics interest and motivate me. Having a new rotation every six months has made me more change-ready and resilient as well.

I’ve come so far in such a short space of time. The 17-year-old me would be surprised that the 22-year-old me is managing their own team at BAE Systems! But the business saw that I had it in me to be a manager, they supported and nurtured me to come out of my comfort zone and take on more responsibilities. I’ve always had managers across my rotations that were generous with their time and advice, helping me with things I’d not come across before, but also empowering me to learn for myself and achieve more. There’s a real focus on me and what I want to achieve in my career.

I’m part of the Inspiring Women Network; we work to empower women to take on roles that have traditionally been male dominated. Showing women that engineering roles or IT roles, for example, aren’t just for men. We meet every month and put learning and development events on, featuring some of our senior female leaders talking about their journey. I find it really motivating, it encourages me to find people that can help me develop and progress into such senior roles.

If you have energy and take the opportunities that come your way, you’ll really love working here, and you’ll be taken on an amazing journey. Everyone around you has confidence in you and helps you develop into a well-rounded, highly skilled professional that’s capable of taking on any challenge.’