Lesley Bell

What do you do in the business?

In essence, I do what my job title says — just backwards. I manage a team and apprentices, or more specifically, the recruitment of them. It sounds simple when put like that, and if I’m honest, the individual components of what I do are simple. It’s juggling them all at once that makes it a challenge — but what a great challenge to have. Being in a position to create training opportunities for young people, to place them into apprenticeships, and to have a hand in shaping their careers and futures is incredibly rewarding. Nothing beats making that call to offer an apprenticeship opportunity to a young person who you know is going to thrive.

It’s equally incredible to develop my own team (including my own apprentice) and watch their passion for what we do grow, knowing the vital part they play in a young person’s journey. What we do matters — for many learners, it’s a lifeline. Because of that, my work goes far beyond the office: I offer careers advice, deliver CV-writing workshops, run mock interviews both in and out of schools, and help prepare students with the skills they need to get started.

And to ensure my team and I can keep doing the great work we do — and do it even better — I recently project-managed the implementation of a new CMS. This has increased our efficiency, helped us reach more employers, create more apprenticeships, and ultimately support more successful careers and futures.

What’s your background?

Before apprenticeships? Well, every step in my career has led me here — to this business and this role. After graduating from Nottingham Trent University in 1996 with a Hospitality Management degree (yes, the poly!), and having made zero attempt at Graduate Scheme applications (just not for me), I walked into a sales recruitment agency at 22 to trial for a telesales job. I wasn’t successful — told I wouldn’t last and that I’d get bored. But my interviewer said, “You’d be great at recruitment,” and took me to a couple of local agencies, one of which was Reed. Reed offered me a temporary role, and the rest — 22 years — is history.

For clarity, those 22 years were not spent at the same desk (despite what my daughter believed for a long time). I opened new branches, carried out national business development, launched new verticals, and eventually managed a branch specialising in Further Education, placing Tutors and Assessors in Colleges and Training Providers. CT Skills were, in fact, on my “hit list.”

The role of BDM (Employability) caught my attention when I knew I wanted something with more purpose than commercial recruitment. Despite interviewing others for a living, I was out of practice and nervous — but the nerves paid off. I joined CT Skills as a BDM in March 2020… and lasted four days. Or rather, Covid lasted four days before sending most of the business into furlough. A small handful of us remained to work on projects until apprenticeship recruitment vacancies began to return.

I was seconded for six months (I’d left recruitment for a reason, after all) — but I fell in love with apprenticeship recruitment, and I’ve never looked back.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received or given?

Careers advice is something I’m passionate about, especially because so little of it is available to young people and it can make such a difference. I always encourage young people to think creatively. Anyone can research a company online and repeat facts and history — that doesn’t make you stand out. Dig deeper. Show that you can research thoroughly and that you genuinely want to work for the organisation.

And if you’re asked why you want to work for a company, my favourite response is to turn the question around:

“Why do you still work for this company?”

It’s a powerful way to learn what truly matters.