Beth Smalley

"I am an Associate Project Manager at Cellnex UK.I am a Coach, Influencer and Quality Controller which I think are all great qualities to have as they give me the ability to be who I am and work in the role that I have chosen as a young female starting off in a STEM industry. "

"As a Project Manager I engage with a lot of people everyday, these people may work internally or they could be external stakeholders within a project I am working on. Day to day I manage project teams and help complete tasks that aid in the success of projects, this includes using work management tools to track activities and then using this to create reports to show the project progress. I often organise workshops, out of office trips or internal events, these take lots of preparation and time to ensure everything is thought about from travel to different locations to presentations or catering needs. Workshops, trips and events are probably my favourite part of the job as I enjoy being creative and organising fun activities that come together and make a difference to a team or department as this helps to raise team morale and makes a more enjoyable place to work, it is also a nice feeling seeing something you have organised, however big or small, being pulled off successfully, as working on bigger projects can sometimes feel like you aren't getting much closer to the end no matter how well the project is progressing! "

"Before starting my role as an Associate Project Manager at Cellnex UK I started by career as an apprentice at Arqiva, before doing my apprenticeship I finished school and went to college where I completed a BTEC in Business Studies and an AS level in Photography. When I came to the end of my BTEC I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do but I did know that I didn't want to go to university and I did know that I liked to be creative and I was good at being organised and managing people. I decided to look into apprenticeships near where I lived because I also knew I didn't want to move to far from home and when I saw the role I am in now advertised I didn't know what Project Management was but I decided to look into it anyway and found that actually, it sounded like exactly something I would enjoy and so I applied for the job!"

"When I am not working I enjoy keeping fit, I try to make sure I go to the gym 4-5 times a week, I also go to a Yoga class on Sunday mornings as I think it is important to take time to reflect and stretch out the mind and body ready for a fresh start each week. I also love to go on walks with friends and family with my two dogs Iggy and Momo! When i'm not moving I enjoy catching up with friends over good food, shopping, watching Disney films and travelling and I enjoy having some me time occasionally to play with makeup looks or have a bath!"

"My day generally includes lots of meetings, as a Project Manager I spend a lot of time communicating with others for reasons such as to either agree something, sign off budgets, track progress, project reporting as well as many more reasons. When I was doing my apprenticeship I spent approximately a day a week writing assignments for my portfolio and previous to taking the exam I spent this time revising. I send out a lot of communication usually through the use of Microsoft teams or email again this could be to book in meetings, share documentation, ask questions etc. I work in the Transformation team which means all the projects I work on are aimed to improve or build processes or tools for the business. "

"10 GCSE's at grades A-CBTEC in Business studies grade D*D*D*AS Level in Photography grade BAPM PFQ (Project Fundamentals Qualification)APM PMQ (Project Management Qualification)Lean Six Sigma White Belt Qualified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt trained (not yet qualified) Level 3 award in Supervising First Aid for Mental Health (RFQ)"