"This was a really great opportunity to be responsible for the solution. I can be guilty of staying in my comfort zone and taking a step back, now I’ve got more confidence to put my hand up and take more on. " - Asha Brown, Graduate Apprentice, Zero Waste Scotland

“I think just having that extra skill, to really research and analyse all the information that was in front of me, looking at it and asking, ‘is that beneficial for our business?’“ - Erin Rollo, Cafe Supervisor, Dundee Science Centre

"Being able to just do something completely different from what my day job is…collaborating on a team and getting everyone else's points of view, taking them on board and seeing how it affects everybody, because obviously we're making a solution, but we need to be able to make that works for loads of different teams in the organisation." -Tianah Scott, HR Business Administration Modern Apprentice, Hillcrest Housing

"Every problem has its stages as to who it affects, and learning how to identify the chain of that was valuable" - Kian Fullerton, Trainee Buyer, Kilmac Construction

"I developed skills in keeping an open mind and being patient. One of the hardest things was trying to maintain balance and not side with one option over another, avoiding a one-sided argument. It changed my perspective on the business side of things." - Cayden Gordon, Hire Controller, Your Equipment Solutions

"The biggest learning part was obviously coming up with our ideas, but also having the ability to pull back your own idea if you know it's not going to work. It was hard sometimes when you think you've got a solid idea and then when you look deeper it doesn't work out, so you try to work a way around that and you move on. There's always other avenues." - Luke Milne, Warehouse Operative, Transform Community Development

“Definitely do it. I did the programme when I started at the company and it was a really great way to kick start my career” - Amy Nelson, Marketing Coordinator, Booth Welsh

“When I first found out I was on the programme I wasn’t sure about it, but I’ve taken leaps and bounds in my career. It’s helped me massively.” - Andrew Wilson, Apprentice Engineer, Ineos

“I now have the confidence to go and talk to people who I don't know including those who are higher up in the business. People were really happy to help, they were enthusiastic about finding a solution” - Max Clark, Engineering Apprentice, Plexus

“I was kind of nervous coming in, but it’s enabled me to develop my communication, critical thinking and leadership skills” - Ali Halliday, Project Management Apprentice, Scottish Water

“I can be a bit of a selfish person when it comes to teamwork and think that my way is the right way, but working in a team in this way really opened my eyes to the importance of listening to other people's opinions” - Dylin Izatt, Apprentice Engineer, Lothian Buses

“it was good to do the team work exercises at the start, particularly around how to make decisions in groups and how to talk to each other. That sounds a bit weird, but that was really helpful” - Esmee Wragg, Engineering Apprentice, Plexus

“You learn how to work in a group and to add to the conversation, or to be able to criticise the ideas. You might not like to do that sometimes but it's really useful when you're developing a solution. Before this I hadn't really done much group work with people and I was shy to talk to people. But doing this it makes you have to do it, and it just gets easier and you become more comfortable with it so you can apply that to communicating with people outside of the group as well” - Jack Hart, Engineering Apprentice, Plexus