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Café Loco in motion with Apprenticeships
Posted on June 13, 2012
Chloe Armstrong, 17, from Derby, was attending college before getting in contact with Care Training East Midlands decided that college wasn’t for her. She would rather do something that involved earning an income and gaining a qualification at the same time, and thought an Apprenticeship might be the route for her.
After looking at various different Apprenticeship websites Chloe came across the National Apprenticeship Service vacancy portal (AVOL). One particular vacancy stood out to Chloe: a Cafe Assistant at Café Loco in Derby City Centre.
Gemma, Recruitment Adviser at Care Training East Midlands, was managing the applications for the Apprenticeship opportunity. She contacted Chloe to have a chat with her over the phone about the suitability of the role, and from then on Gemma knew that Chloe would be a good candidate to put through to the interviews. Gemma says, “Chloe’s positive attitude really shone through in the phone conversation – this is a crucial characteristic that we look for in all applicants.”
Suzanne Searston, Co-owner of Café Loco, says she told Gemma exactly what she was looking for in a candidate and she trusted Gemma with her decision. Suzanne also says, “All three of the candidates Gemma had put forward were good, but Chloe stood out from the rest.”
Chloe will start her Apprenticeship when she has settled into her new role. She says working in a customer-focused environment has allowed her to meet some amazing people, gain financial independence, learn how to cook and improve her time keeping.
Advice that Chloe would give to future apprentices is: “Choose what you want to do, instead of settling for just anything.”
