Muminah Rasul

Event Manager, Pure Communications Group

I started back with Realise and, I think, I was the second cohort of apprentices. So, this was when apprenticeships was still a very new thing.

September 1, 2017, where I started at CL Events, which was part of who I did my event apprenticeship with. And I was at CL Events for five years. Obviously, there was a bit of a COVID hit in the middle. But that’s the place I just left last year before I started at this new place. So, I was there for a good while.

When I was in college, university was always the plan for me. I’d never thought of kind of going down this apprenticeship route.

And these event apprenticeships came up on, I think, one of the websites. And so, I looked into that. I met up with a team who were kind of managing it with Realise, and they had a few job specs on the radar. The job spec for CL looked really good … quite interesting.

So, I had a quick interview with the team who were working with Realise. They put my CV forward. And then I went in literally the next day to CL Events to meet with Alison who was the director at CL. Met with her and she called my contact at the company, who was working with Realise and offered the [apprenticeship] job straightaway.

So, it was a really fast-moving thing. I think that was a Thursday or a Friday and I started on the Monday. So, it was a weekend to process it all. It was all very quick!

It was a really small team at CL. There was only about four of us there

It was all very exciting … having that opportunity and

kind of just growing up and seeing what’s out there.

I think the best part that I’ve always said to everybody about doing an apprenticeship, is the experience that you gain from actually working the role. You learn so much.

Of course, you can learn in Uni and studying or books and that was always still a part of this. But, you learn the most, or I know I learned the most actually being there, actually doing the role, actually doing the job and seeing my colleagues do it.

Alison kind of took me under her wing. We did a lot together.

They were really busy. There was a new project that had just come in which I took under my wing as well. And, you know, over the five years that became my baby. So that was a big project that I took on from day one.

I think it was just nice, though, because although I started this official job, I always had that back-behind-the-scenes support of Realise [with] David and Richard both there. If I ever needed help, if I ever needed guidance, and just to check in. Also all the learnings and workshops we’d do as well which was always helpful.

So that was obviously a big part of doing an apprenticeship. You’re still doing your assignment and you’re still learning actual knowledge of that side of it, too.

The big kind of final project is a sort of apprenticeship dissertation as such. So, it’s where you talk about one of the events or one of the projects you’ve kind of handled start to finish or been a part of from start to end.

That was good fun as well, because you kind of evaluate the whole event in a way from how it started all the way to everything that happened throughout. What bits you are involved in — anything from the marketing, to the finance, to the reconciliation, to the client, to the guests, all parts of it. And it was the great, big report.

And I did end my apprenticeship with a distinction.

It was honestly an amazing experience. And it’s what started me out into the world of events properly. And understanding is this something I’m enjoying, is this something I want to do.

And just putting that first step in, because I think even if you come up out of uni, the biggest thing is what people are looking for you don’t have is the experience.

So, as I finished my apprenticeship and got the full-time role at CL, I think I started there as an Event Coordinator … and have worked up to Senior Events Coordinator ending with an Events Manager role.

It was finally time to kind of take that next step see what else is out there. ‘Cause events were coming back as well. So people were really eager to get people in.

It was nice to know that my CV was attractive to people and companies and they were looking for someone on my level.

Now I’m here with Pure [Communications Group] and a lot is happening. Really exciting stuff. Really enjoying it.

I’m happy with the choices I’ve made. I always say that I was lucky to find Realise and I was lucky to find Allison and CL.

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