Nick Stylianou had been working for Lloyds for almost 7 years when it was time for a change.
“I’d always been an IT person, building PCs in my spare time,” and the dream was to go to uni and study Computer Science.
In college, Nick did A-Levels in IT, Business Studies, and Sociology to prepare, but, due to a change in his life, he had to get a job straight away. As is the case for many, university was simply out of reach. Nick worked his way up at Tesco, from till to management, and got his first job at Lloyds. Through the years, he progressed through several customer-facing roles, and dreams of uni faded in the background.
During the pandemic, Nick joined the Customer Financial Assistance Team. Lloyds was quick to adapt to remote working; as new systems were implemented, he started looking for a way back into IT.
“I decided I was never going to leave; Lloyds are such a good company. For a lot of roles, you’re in for life almost, because you’re well taken care of.” He was looking for roles in IT, not specifically Apprenticeships, when IT Solutions Technician caught his eye. He found the programme on Lloyds’ internal Workday and told his boss.
“I knew about Apprenticeships because Lloyds is a big advocate. Luckily for me, all my Line Managers have always been great, supportive – this is why I said I’d never leave Lloyds. They want you to do better, to move ahead in life,” and naturally supported his decision to apply.
Nick joined the programme in May 2022. The structure was ideal, as taking a break from work to study was simply not an option. “Being able to earn a living and study at the same time is a dream job… I’m lucky. I’m now doing what I’ve always wanted to do.”
To his surprise, Nick realised he was no longer sorry about being unable to attend uni earlier. “I needed time to understand what life is before progressing to uni. I don’t believe in going straight from college; I wouldn’t have taken it seriously. Plus, the field has evolved so much, I would have needed to retrain anyway. This wasn’t remote back then; now, you can even do software in high-school.”
Nick works on a team that supports the company’s software management tool, Endevor, which is vital – without it, Lloyds can’t test and release software. While doing this, Nick learned to program in Rexx and C#, as well as a solid foundation about hardware, software, and IT security and legislation. As part of the course, he also took the well-known CompTIA A+ and became certified. He’s now busy, studying hard for his EPA this September. “I wanted extra time to study,” Nick says.
One of the best parts of his experience is how much he’s learning from his teammates. “On paper, I have an In-Work Mentor (Tim Walker) and a Firebrand Learning Mentor (Steve Stocks); in reality, my team is so supportive, I benefit from everyone’s knowledge too. They give 100% of their time.”
Would Nick recommend Apprenticeships?
“The mindset used to be, Apprenticeships are for 16-18-year-olds, not people in their late 20s…that’s wrong! If you have the opportunity, do it – but don’t take it for granted! Put 110% into this stuff.”
Good luck on your EPA, Nick!