How I Became an EuroApprentice - Gecko's employee Rebecca Finn talks about her Erasmus+ Work Experience

Rebecca Finn posing next to the Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen
Left to right: Rebecca Finn (Gecko Programmes), Amy Yardley (Ecorys Project Manager), Doris Schmidauer (spouse of Alexander Van der Bellen), Alexander Van der Bellen (President of Austria), Fred Brant (Leicester College), Coral Henderson (Leicester College), Jamie Moore (Bolton at Home)

I have recently been successful in securing the role of EuroApprentice with the Erasmus+ National Agency in the UK, and tasked with raising awareness of Erasmus+ opportunities in the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

I applied as a participant who has previously been on a mobility project, working in another European Country through the Erasmus + Programme. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the final 4 successful applicants in the UK and I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to share my experiences and encourage others to go ahead and gain the experience that I have.

"The role of a EuroApprentice is to enhance the visibility of the Erasmus+ programme in their home country and motivate other apprentices, enterprises and VET providers to participate in the programme by sharing their own experience of learning abroad and its benefit for personal and professional development.
EuroApprentices are members of a network of Erasmus+ funded apprentices selected by Erasmus+ National Agencies in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Italy."
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I was able to get involved with this as I completed a mobility in Seville, Spain in March 2017, where I worked in the Business Admin industry, working in an office for 3 weeks. The mobility itself has opened many opportunities for me both personally and professionally - enabling me to continue onto this new programme as well as being able to progress at work, whilst attaining new personal and professional skills.

My role as a EuroApprentice is to enhance the visibility of the Erasmus+ programme and motivate other apprentices, enterprises and VET providers to participate in the programme by illustrating my own experience of learning abroad and its benefit for personal and professional development.
The responsibilities I have under this role are to:

• Complete 1 - 4 social media engagement activities: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.
• Complete 1 - 2 presentations / event engagement activities

I was also privileged enough to attend a funded EuroApprentice Network Meeting in Vienna, Austria from 28th - 30th May 2018. There, I met with other EuroApprentices from different countries in the EU, including: Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Malta, Spain and many others.
During my stay I was able to do sightseeing activities, I had a tour of the city and I was also lucky enough to meet and greet the Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen. I also participated in Social Media, Video Making, Project Planning and Presentation Skills Activities.
Overall, the whole EuroApprentice journey so far has been overwhelming and I am excited for what is to come in the future. I would recommend this programme to anyone spontaneous, looking to gain experience, looking to travel or looking to develop themselves.