No Wrong Path: My Career Journey – Lottie Ireland

A bit about me:

My name is Lottie Ireland, I am 21 and live in Dundee with my husband Connor and our cat Miso.

In my free time, I enjoy watching movies, playing games and crafting.

From home-schooling to my first job

I was a shy, nervous child who enjoyed learning but found it difficult when other students were having a carry on and not taking things seriously. Hence, when I was in my 2nd year of high school, I decided that being home-schooled would be best for me.

Over the years, I learned from textbooks, online courses, and practical experience.

Once I reached 16, I didn’t sit any exams, but wanted to achieve some qualifications so I applied for a college course. Unfortunately I was too young to get any funding.

Instead, I applied for a modern apprenticeship in Business Administration with an organisation called Developing the Young Workforce Tay Cities. I worked there full time and benefitted from in-person experience of the workplace whilst completing my SVQ 2 and 3.

My experience at Hillcrest

After qualifying, I was fortunate to achieve the role of Clerical Assistant within the Learning & Development team at Hillcrest. It was a challenging start due to Covid-19 and having to work remotely for a long time, however everyone was so helpful and welcoming.

My role has evolved over time – in the beginning, much of my work involved organising face to face training courses and updating training records. Now, much of my time is spent designing and creating E-Learning courses.  Hillcrest has been incredibly supportive and is putting me through a Digital Learning Design Diploma with the Digital Learning Institute to further my knowledge in this area.

I am part of the ‘Young Persons’ Voice’ group at Hillcrest. I find it really positive that Hillcrest is actively trying to engage with young people and feel that my contributions to this group are valued.

I’ve been working here for almost two years now and have really enjoyed my time and experience here – my confidence and knowledge have grown significantly.

My dreams and ambitions:

I am proud of how much I’ve developed in these last five years! I’m now able to voice my ideas and opinions and contribute to a team.

I look forward to completing my Digital Learning qualification and hope the knowledge I gain can help with the development of Hillcrest’s E-Learning programme. In the future, I see this as a way to advance my career as it’s something I really enjoy doing. Hopefully my experience will demonstrate that there really is ‘no wrong path’ to success and will inspire students who are educated outwith the traditional schooling system.