Rhiannon tells us about her first 3 months of her degree apprenticeship
Back in July we wrote about one of our former students, Rhiannon Dodson-Edwards, who was just preparing to start a degree apprenticeship at Cisco. We recently caught up with her to see how she’s been getting on.
“Since leaving The Henley College, I have become a degree apprentice at Cisco and chair of the Young Executive Success Club for the charity Dress for Success Greater London.
As a degree apprentice at Cisco, I have been able to study for a BSc in Digital Technology and Solutions, whilst also rotating into different sectors of the business to gain exposure to the company.
Currently, I have been working in my first rotation for three months within Enablement, which specialises in creating training and events for internal employees and external partners on Cisco products and insights. For example, I recently hosted my own Spotlight session, which is a 30-minute event, on the subject ‘Competitive Insights on Secure Remote Workforce’.
My Enablement team also gave me the opportunity to plan and execute my own virtual charity event for Dress for Success Greater London and fully supported me in doing so; therefore, I was able to broaden my skills of project management, technical abilities, communications and delivery and execution that I can transfer to future rotations.
Cisco also gives you the opportunity to complete further qualifications. In November of 2020, I achieved my CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) which was a major milestone for me and something I am still extremely proud of completing.
I have two more 3-month long rotations left for my first year as an apprentice at Cisco. In the second year I will do two six-month long rotations and third year spend a year within a sector.
When I first joined Cisco, I thought I knew exactly where I wanted to spend my rotations and what role I wanted to graduate into. I never thought I could be technical, yet I passed my CCNA and surprised myself!
The amount of opportunities Cisco offer and the time the management team spend getting to know you and your skill set, where you can develop and what rotations would suit yet push you further has made me completely re-evaluate where I want to spend time in my next rotation and I am so excited to explore what other opportunities may occur!”
Whilst at The Henley College Rhiannon studied A Levels in Economics, Politics and English Language and Literature, and the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).
If you’d like to find out more about these subjects or any of the courses we offer then sign up for our Virtual Subject and Course Taster Sessions here.
