Jessica Proctor - Fail to prepare or prepare to fail?

Fail to prepare or prepare to fail? 

Jessica Proctor 

When the odds are against you, thinking about your future can be daunting. You never know how your circumstances may change, what challenges you might face and most importantly, who will be there to support you along the way. The phrase ‘fail to prepare or prepare to fail’ is often used when referring to jobs and further education. However, rarely do we discuss people who ‘prepare to fail’ from the off. For some, the thought of having dreams, goals and ambitions is one which feels unattainable due to circumstances beyond their control control - this can include a range of things, but to name a few; health problems, being a primary carer, living in a single parent household/losing a parent, lower socioeconomic ‘class’ and disabilities. In this blog post I will speak about why apprenticeship outreach is so important, how it shaped my career journey and how I am helping to shape other journeys now. 

Like most people, I faced many challenges in my early teenage years, from losing a parent to addiction and furthermore developing my own addictions as a coping mechanism. This was pivotal in my development, as I had suddenly changed from a young girl with dreams of becoming a Dermatologist, Scientist or Army medic (so many dreams she couldn’t make up her mind), to a person who had lost sight of their purpose, and didn’t feel like they could achieve anything. Now I look back, I actually feel fortunate that this happened while I was this age, as a pose to my late teens where I would be sitting important exams and making decisions about my future. Luckily, I grew from this phase and managed to combat my troubles in a healthy way, so much so that when I turned 16 I started to get back on track. Covid fortunately meant for me that I didn’t have to sit GCSE exams, providing me a safe fallback into A levels to study Geography, Biology and English Language. I worked really hard at the beginning of A levels, with a goal of becoming a Scientist. I had attended an online work experience webinar with GSK, facilitated by Young Professionals prior to this which furthered my desire to achieve this. It was inspiring to see the people hosting doing something so rewarding, and encouraging personal growth. I applied for an Apprentice role in Laboratory Science at GSK and attended rounds of interviews, shocked more and more each time that I was getting through to the next round. I’m sure this has changed now, but during my time there was little support for Apprenticeship applications in comparison to University. I couldn’t understand why, because as somebody who applied for both, University was definitely the easier application process. 

Inevitably, during A levels life took its toll once again and I faced a few more battles in life, which meant I was skipping classes (or weeks of education all together), not focusing and becoming detached from my goal. Finally, 3 months before A levels I found resolution to my problems, and started cracking down. It was during this time period that I also found out I had successfully acquired a role at GSK, so I knew I had some work to do to become the outstanding candidate I had presented in the interviews in person. I struggled very much trying to learn 2 years worth of content for three subjects in the space of only a few months, especially while having had an average of 3 jobs on the go at once since I was 16, working school evenings, weekends and weekend nights. I managed to achieve an A* in English Language (after receiving an E in my mock exam), a B in geography and a D in Biology. I also got rejected from every single University because of this grade. 

At this point you might be thinking, how did GSK not reject you, you only got a D and the Apprenticeship requires a C at least, preferably much higher for a position as a Biology based Scientist! 

I truly believe that if I had not attended that webinar, I would not have had the means or motivation to make up for what I lacked in grades with experience. I ended up looking for as much as I could to enhance my CV in A levels , for example doing LinkedIn courses and becoming a Laboratory Technician voluntarily for my school. Without this to back me up, I very much doubt I would have been hired. I also believe my ability to talk about my passions and goals transpired from the experiences that shaped my teenage hood, where whilst carrying the burden of trauma I picked up lots of life skills and aged well ahead of my years. As an adult now, I know this is never a good thing, and children should stay as children, however I definitely think my unique level of maturity at that age helped me to be where I am now. 

The moral of this story is that there should be more support for people who might not be receiving as much help at home; or may have lost their way, or don’t have access to see what is out there. Companies like Young Professionals are so important in shaping futures, and even if on a smaller scale, it’s essential that we , as Apprentices, also help to support outreach and help to provide equal opportunities for everybody. 

This is something I have become increasingly passionate about during my last couple of years as an Apprentice, and I have since had a reach of over 1.6 million people through different platforms including my own social media such as LinkedIn and various outreach activities. Most notably; writing an article on why apprenticeships are the way of the future for Womenhood, providing a case study interview for Tahe Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, speaking at numerous schools and Early Talent events, hosting STEM events, and now writing my own blog for a company that, quite literally, saved my future. My favourite quote is ‘today's blessings were once yesterday's prayers’, because there is a past version of you looking at what you have right now and wishing they will have that in the future. Get involved in outreach and raise awareness of companies that do, for the people who aren’t as lucky, and have less of a chance of having this future version of themself, without the support they deserve.