After a few years working as a primary school teacher, Laurel White made a bold decision during COVID: it was time for a career change. “I just said enough is enough. I need to get out of this, and I’d rather try and retrain in my 20s rather than wait until I’m 50,” she explains.
After joining Elysium as a recruitment admin and moving to the international team, Laurel began to recognise where her future lay. “I felt like HR is the role that I want to be in the long term.”
The advice she received was consistent: “Loads of people said you should do your CIPD.” But when Laurel looked at the cost of studying independently, it felt out of reach. That’s when her manager Angela mentioned that as an Elysium employee, she was eligible to undertake an apprenticeship alongside her work.
For Laurel, like many professionals, apprenticeships seemed like something for school leavers or specific trades, not a viable pathway for someone retraining in their twenties. But the apprenticeship structure meant Laurel could dedicate time to her studies during working hours, without sacrificing her personal time.
Laurel enrolled in the Level 5 People Management apprenticeship with Lifetime Training. What sets the apprenticeship route apart, she discovered, wasn’t just the qualification itself, it was the breadth of exposure and practical application.
“I’ve gained skills I wouldn’t have in my day-to-day role because I focus on onboarding, but People Management gave me insight into every area of the People team,” Laurel explains. “It’s given me exposure to other departments so I could make informed decisions about the areas that I actually want to move into.”
As someone who changed her career, Laurel found that the apprenticeship helped her gain confidence and accelerate her knowledge in a new field: “I was a teacher. I knew everything I had to do to be the best teacher. But when you’re starting again, you don’t have this knowledge.
If you met me like 18 to 20 months ago when I first started, I was very timid, I just didn’t feel like I knew a lot,” Laurel says. “But now, I have so much more confidence. My team will come to me because they feel like I have that knowledge.”
Laurel is quick to address a common misconception about apprenticeships. “Some people think an apprenticeship is like this easy route but it’s not. It’s the same amount of work, same amount of effort, it’s just a different route to the traditional education path.
From being the person asking questions to the go-to expert in her team, Laurel has become an advocate, encouraging colleagues to consider an apprenticeship as part of their professional development. “One of my colleagues has been inspired, he just signed up to the same level as me and he’s like, you’re going to help me through it!”
For anyone considering an apprenticeship, Laurel’s advice is: “I just say go for it. If you’re thinking about it and it’s been on your mind for three months, go and get it done. You must be certain, and you need to know that you have to put the time and effort into it. But it is worth it because it’s practical. This is something that you actually use.”
Laurel’s journey from primary school teacher to HR professional demonstrates that apprenticeships aren’t just for early career starters, they’re powerful tools for career changers, skill developers, and anyone looking to formalise their expertise with a recognised qualification.
Today, Laurel brings her knowledge to her role in the People Team, mentoring colleagues who are following in her footsteps and continuing to advocate for apprenticeships as an underutilised resource for professional development.
Her message for National Apprenticeships Week is that apprenticeships aren’t outdated or limited to certain sectors. They’re a practical, supported pathway to qualification and career growth, and more people need to know they exist.
Laurel White is currently completing her Level 5 People Management apprenticeship with Lifetime Training and works in the People Team at Elysium Healthcare.
