A FORMER vehicle repair student at Ayrshire College has landed her dream job with Ayr Audi as an apprentice technician.
The 21 year-old, Gillian Anderson, from Troon showed a driving performance during her time at the college and thanks to the hard work, Gillian now has a three-year apprenticeship at Ayr Audi.
As soon as she heard about the apprenticeship opportunity role, she took the time and courage to phone the manager of Ayr Audi, who then invited her in for a trial run.
That trial, which was only supposed to last three days, turned into the rest of the week for Gillian as she impressed the manager so much that she was asked to stay for the rest of the week.
Soon after, she was offered the job.
Gillian’s lecturer at Ayrshire College, John Hunter, said: “Gillian always worked really hard and I’m pleased she’s now working in such a high calibre garage.
"She started on our Access to Motor Vehicle course, which is an excellent starting point for people who are interested in working in the industry.
"Gillian’s a great example of how Ayrshire College can help young people progress with their careers.”
Delighted by the whole thing, Gillian said: “I’ve always been interested in cars; I basically grew up in a garage! I’d say college was the first time I’d ever done things properly on real cars, though. The lecturers would always tell us what it was like being in the motor trade and they would always keep us on top of what we had to do.
“Basically, I knew one of the valeters at Ayr Audi and he told me a position was opening up. So I phoned the manager and sent over my CV. When I was at the trial, I really had to show that I was keen. I proved that I was willing to clean, and willing to help the technicians.
“It’s really hard work sometimes but I’ve got a good bunch of people around me. I’m working with two technicians from the nine that we have here at Ayr Audi and I do whatever job they’re working on. And there’s another apprentice here too.”
Gillian often travels to Milton Keynes as part of the Audi's National Traning Centre, program.
She said: “A vocational learning assessor comes up from Milton Keynes to see what I’m doing, and he’ll tell me what he needs to see from me over the next three months. I’ll also go down for training in Milton Keynes for a week at a time, four to six times a year. I’ve been once so far and it’s great down there, I really enjoy it.”
As soon as she gets her technician qualification, she plans to go for the master technician and become the highest you can be.