A female apprentice painter and decorator from Mosstodloch has impressed Careers Scotland in overcoming the odds to make a real change in her working life. 

Leanne Urquhart is a first year student at Inverness College and is an apprentice with painting and decorating firm Bell Group UK that are based in Lossiemouth as well as Airdrie.

She has just been awarded a certificate of achievement from Careers Scotland's Kay Geldart who nominated her for the Careers Scotland Excellence Awards which took place last November in Glasgow.

It was a year ago that Leanne approached Careers Scotland staff in Elgin where she was then referred to the Get Ready for Work programme (GRFW) through Ali Mullins of Support Training to the to help her gain vital skills. 

GRFW is the training provider supports young people to move into a job, further training or college, by helping them focus on what they want to do.  They can also learn new skills and get the confidence they need to move on to further training, learning or into work.

Kay Geldart, senior adviser at Careers Scotland in Elgin said:  "When Leanne approached the Careers Scotland office in Elgin, she initially began applying for office jobs.   However, with support and encouragement from advisers, she gained more confidence and decided to focus on her original goal of gaining an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator.  Leanne has shown determination to progress career planning in the face of some setbacks, and she can be seen as a positive role for other young women who want to apply for non traditional careers."

Although Leanne had passed the Construction Industries Training Board (CITB) test, she felt that she lacked work experience and that her gender put her at a disadvantage.  Through the GRFW referral, she gained a work placement with Alex M Anderson and immediately impressed the company with her enthusiasm and commitment. 

Leanne said that she has fitted in well in what is currently a male dominated world.  She said:  "I was really impressed with the support that Careers Scotland gave me. 
Being female, I thought it would be hard to get an apprenticeship with a painting and decorating company but it has been quite the opposite.  I am really enjoying doing my apprenticeship with Bell Group UK and gaining my advanced certificate in painting and decorating through the college. 

"It did worry me a bit the fact that there were so many boys in the class. I didn¹t know how they would act towards me. I did worry about being an outsider but I was accepted as an equal".

Leanne has no regrets about her career path and encouraged other young women to take up the challenge.

Last year saw the first annual Careers Scotland Excellence Awards which publicly recognise the positive and diverse range of career planning activities taking place throughout Scotland. 

Careers Scotland offers a range of career planning and information services to help people of all ages to maximise their career potential. Its aim is to equip people living in Scotland with the skills to make well informed career decisions throughout their lives.

For free and confidential advice on career planning for adults as well as young people, the Careers Scotland office in Elgin is open Monday to Friday at 7 Commerce Street, tel: 01343 548884.